Carolyn Elya, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology Zombiologist in Chief
Carolyn received her Ph.D. in 2017 from UC Berkeley (go bears!) working with Dr. Michael Eisen where she accidentally discovered zombies in her backyard. She developed the zombie fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster-Entomophthora muscae) lab system based on this encounter, and brought it with her to Dr. Benjamin de Bivort’s group at Harvard University where she completed her postdoc investigating the neuromechanistic basis of zombie behaviors. As the head of her own lab, Carolyn is thrilled to dive even deeper into the zombie fruit fly system to explore all things behavior manipulation.
cnelya@g.harvard.edu
Diana Redlund
Faculty Assistant
Diana is our in-house administrative, logistics, and ordering ninja.
diana_redlund@fas.harvard.edu
Aslan Cook
Technician
Aslan received her B.S. in Biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023. She is interested cell biology questions in fun organismal systems and has worked with butterflies, tardigrades, snails, frogs, and now, fungi and flies! In the Elya lab, she’s looking at ways flies might resist E. muscae infection. Outside lab, she’s a casual crafter and can be found cutting up old clothes and crocheting things she doesn’t need.
aslan_cook@g.harvard.edu
Caris Eaton
Undergraduate Researcher
Caris is a junior in the college studying Molecular and Cellular Biology and Sociology. They are interested in the morphology of E. muscae and are working on a couple projects to 1) investigate how fly biomolecules induce fungal germination and 2) characterize E. muscae morphology throughout its life cycle.
ceaton@college.harvard.edu
Brandon Fricker, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Brandon received his Ph.D. from Emory University in 2024 working with Dr. Aubrey Kelly on the neural circuits driving social behaviors in the cooperatively breeding spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus). He is broadly interested in how the activity of individual neurons produce specific, complex, and often stereotyped behaviors. In the Elya Lab, Brandon is interested in a variety of projects, including how E. muscae manipulates fruit fly neural activity to produce summitting behavior and how circadian rhythms may be perturbed during infection.
bfricker@g.harvard.edu
Adina Lippman
Undergraduate Researcher
Adina is a Molecular and Cellular Biology concentrator in her junior year. Her work in the lab centers on developing transgenic strategies in E. muscae.
adinalippman@college.harvard.edu
Gaby Paniccia
Postdoctoral Researcher
Gaby received her Ph.D from the Rockefeller University in 2024 working in the lab of Dr. Charles Rice to understand a novel antiviral activity of phospholipid scramblase 1 (PLSCR1) against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. She is broadly interested in host-pathogen interaction, not only between the fly and E. muscae, but also between E. muscae and the viruses that infect it. In the Elya lab, she is interested in developing methods for genetically manipulating the fungus to enable broader study of the genetic underpinnings of its pathogenesis.
gpaniccia@g.harvard.edu
Julius Tabin
Graduate Student (OEB)
Julius is a graduate student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology department, broadly interested in behavioral genetics. In the past, he has studied a variety of organisms, including cavefish, zebrafish, catsharks, gars, skates, big cats, and deer mice. He is currently working on understanding the molecular and mechanistic basis of E. muscae induced summiting behavior. Julius is also trained in Egyptology and, in his free time, continues to research the morphology of ancient Egyptian hieratic. 𓋴𓐠𓄿𓎛𓃃𓂻𓃭𓏤𓆷𓄿𓇋𓏲𓁶!
jtabin@g.harvard.edu
Leslie Torres-Ulloa, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Leslie earned her Ph.D. in 2024 from UMass Chan Medical School in the lab of Athma Pai. She is interested in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control important life-stage transitions in E. muscae’s time within the fly, from a systems genetics perspective. Her work in the Elya lab focuses on elucidating the gene networks that drive cell-wall reconstruction in the zombie fungus in preparation for exit from the zombie fly, and characterizing the molecular mechanisms that constrain death to the twilight hours of the day.
ltorresulloa@g.harvard.edu
Šimon Weiser
Undergraduate Researcher
Šimon is a Neuroscience concentrator in his junior year. He is interested in how brains produce behaviors, and is using multicolor flip-out and immunohistochemistry to map PI-CA neurons, a population of neurosecretory cells crucial for E. muscae-driven summiting, back to the Drosophila connectome. When he’s not taking pretty pictures of brains, Šimon represents Harvard College running Track and Field.
simonweiser@college.harvard.edu
Jessenia Yupangui Yupa
RSI Post-Baccalaureate Scholar
Jessenia earned her B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2024. In the Elya lab, she is investigating the causal link between fungal invasion of the brain and behavior and the driving force behind our Zombuddies project.
jyupanguiyupa@g.harvard.edu
Future members
Grad students: Our primary affiliation will be with the MCO graduate program, but we are happy to consider any students within the HILS alliance.
Undergraduates: Send Carolyn an email with your CV as well as and why you’re interested in the lab.
Summer students: There are several mechanisms to pursue summer research at Harvard. Send Carolyn an email with your CV and why you’re interested in the lab. Please also indicate which programs (at Harvard or elsewhere) would be appropriate to support your work. Keep in mind summer programs have early deadlines – reach out before March for best results.
Alumni
Technicians
Charlie Heacock (2024-2025; now in Harvard MCO graduate program)
Rina Sotiropoulou (2024-2025; now in Harvard MCO graduate program)
Harvard Undergraduates:
Lucy Hurlbut (IB ’25)
Andres Muedano Sosa (Phil ’27)
Haesung Jee (IB ’24)
Summer students
Shannon Kemp (UCSD ’27)
Kevin Ye (Pomona College ’27)
America Cox (University of Utah ’25)
Interns
Jolie Chan (Brandeis ’29)
Hunter Guarnaschelli (Northeastern ’25)