Principal Investigator

Puja Kumari completed her PhD at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, India. She has always been passionate about understanding how microbes cause diseases. To answer countless questions linked to host-microbial interactions and disease mechanisms, she decided to study microbiology and immunology. During her PhD training, Dr. Kumari followed her passion and explored the role and mechanisms of Human CytoMegaloVirus (HCMV) proteins in inducing pro-oncogenic behavior in naive cells. She received several prestigious awards from renowned Indian agencies, including CSIR, GATE, and DBT to pursue her PhD and presented her work in national and international scientific conferences.  Soon after her PhD, she joined Dr. Vijay Rathinam's laboratory at UConn Health, CT, as a postdoctoral researcher and continued to investigate why microbes cause diseases and how our immune system deal with them. During her postdoctoral training, she made exemplary contributions to the non-canonical inflammasome and sepsis field. Her contributions ranged from discovering potential biomarkers for sepsis to mechanisms of disease  onset and spread during sepsis.

She joined Binghamton University, a State University of New York (SUNY), in September 2024 in the Department of Biological Sciences and started her own research group with the generous start-up money provided by the State. She continues to stay passionate about asking and answering the critical questions of host-pathogen interactions by contributing her knowledge to finding the mechanisms of infectious diseases and effective ways to control them.

Stanley Wong

Incoming Graduate Student, Biology (Joining Fall 2026)

Siying Sun, Undergraduate Freshman Student (Biochemistry Major)

I am a freshman majoring in Biochemistry on a Pre-Med track. My interests include immunology and its importance amongst other fields of study in medicine. In Kumari Lab, I aim to build a strong understanding in immunology and how the body defends itself against dangers. I am interested in doing immunology research because  I want to explore the immune system’s complexity and contribute to discoveries that can directly improve patient care. 

Amanda Snowberger, Undergraduate Junior Student (Biology Major)

I am a junior studying Biology on the Pre-Med track, and I am interested in immunology research because I’m committed to deepen my understanding of the immune system and its role in disease treatment.

Toby Reicher, Undergraduate Junior Student (Biology Major)

I am minoring in Forensic Health. I am eager to contribute to Kumari lab and learn more about the contribution of our immune system in health and disease. I am interested in learning how our body reacts to the outside world to maintain a homeostasis in us, and the mechanisms that control this.

Nay Linn, Undergraduate Junior Student (Biology and Global Public Health Major)

I am minoring in Africana Studies, and I am interested in immunology because it plays a vital role across nearly every field of human health research, from drug development to disease pathogenesis. Despite its importance, immunology is often understudied or narrowly associated with cancer, when in reality pure immunology is a vast and independent field. I want to deepen my understanding of this complexity and gain more hands-on experience exploring its mechanisms.

Alexander Salvesvold, Undergraduate Sophomore Student (Biochemistry Major)

I’m a premedical biochemistry major interested in immunology research because it bridges the core sciences and clinical medicine. My long term goal is to make discoveries that could result in treatment for patients.