Who We Are
We are always on the lookout for potential new members of our research group. If you are interested in participating in our work, please shoot us an email.
Principal Investigator
Thomas Hooven, MD
Tom graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in psychology in 2001. He attended University of Michigan Medical School, graduating with honors in 2007. He completed his pediatrics residency and chief residency at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of Columbia University/New York-Presbyterian. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Pediatric Scientist Development Program, in which he worked in the laboratory of Adam Ratner at NYU-Langone Medical Center. He moved to Pittsburgh in 2019.
Research Technician
Sophia Carlin, BS
Sophia grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and earned a B.S. in Biology at Grove City College. After graduation in 2021 she joined the Eric Skaar lab at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. While there, her project focused on characterizing the molecular mechanism behind the Bacillus anthracis two-component system HssRS. Sophia moved back to Pittsburgh and joined the Hooven lab in August 2023 where she is working to use bacterial genetics methods to better understand the pathogenicity of group B Streptococcus (GBS). In her free time, she enjoys trying new recipes, biking, and painting.
Graduate Student
Gideon Hillebrand, BS
Gideon was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area. He graduated from Grove City College with a B.A. in molecular biology in 2021. As an undergraduate he worked with Devin Stauff at a branch of the Eric Skaar Lab studying novel two component signaling systems in Bacillus anthracis. He joined the Hooven lab in April 2022 and is working toward earning his Ph.D. in microbiology through the University of Pittsburgh’s Program of Microbiology and Immunology (PMI). Outside of lab he enjoys cooking, brewing kombucha, and trying new craft beers.
Graduate student
Lizzie Giacobe, BS
Lizzie is from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. in Microbiology in 2023. During her undergraduate research career in the Miyashiro lab, she studied the symbiotic relationship between the Hawaiian Bobtail squid and bioluminescent marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri, specifically how the type VI secretion system (T6SS) harbored by the bacteria affect symbiont diversity and the juvenile colonization process. Lizzie joined the Hooven lab in April of 2024 where she is pursuing a Ph.D. through the University of Pittsburgh’s Program in Microbiology and Immunology (PMI). When not in lab, you can find Lizzie baking, crocheting, and playing board games with her fellow grad students.
Neonatology Fellow
Hayley Varela, MD
Hayley is a second year Neonatal-Perinatal Fellow. She grew up in Arkansas and completed her B.S. in Biology at the University of Arkansas Fulbright Honors College where she graduated Suma Cum Laude and wrote a thesis encompassing her work in a microbiology lab studying the pathogenesis of C. difficile. Hayley earned her M.D. at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she also completed her pediatrics residency prior to moving to Pittsburgh and starting her subspecialty training at UPMC. Her future goals include a career in academic medicine as a neonatologist with a engagement in education and research. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, bouldering, painting, going on long walks to nowhere around Pittsburgh, a good cocktail or glass of wine, and hanging out with her cat, Lenny.
undergraduate researcher
Heather Stephenson
Heather is a sophomore at University of Pittsburgh. She is majoring in biological sciences and considering a future in research, medicine, or both. She is from the friendly town of Pittsburgh, PA! When not working on her microbiology project in Hooven lab, Heather likes to read and play with her dog.
Alumni
Collaborators
NYU-Langone Medical center
Adam Ratner, MD, MPH
The Ratner laboratory studies bacterial pathogens that cause disease in infants, children, and pregnant women.
Columbia University
Ansaf Salleb-Aouissi, PhD & Adam Lin, Graduate Student
We collaborate with members of the Columbia University Department of Computer Science to develop machine learning algorithms to permit early detection of severe neonatal infectious diseases.
Rutgers University
Dane Parker, PhD
Our ongoing work with the Parker group is focused on using high-resolution sequencing of mutant libraries to better understand Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.
Institute for genome sciences
Hervé Tettelin, PhD
Hervé is an internationally recognized expert on bacterial genetics and next-generation sequencing techniques.
University of South Florida
Tara Randis, MD, MPH
Drs. Hooven and Randis worked together in the NICU at Columbia University Medical Center. The Randis laboratory studies mechanisms of group B Streptococcus pathogenesis. Tara is responsible for developing and perfecting several important models of perinatal infection.
vanderbilt University
Ryan Doster, MD
We are collaborating with Dr. Doster to understand the factors that allow group B Streptococcus to form biofilms—aggregates of bacterial cells that allow them to escape destruction by antibiotics and the immune system.
Indiana University
David Aronoff, MD
With funding from the University of Pittsburgh i4Kids Institute, we are collaborating with the Aronoff lab to study macrophage responses to a large panel of group B Streptococcus surface proteins.
