Presenters

John Holik | Author, Co-Author

John.Holik@umassmed.edu;
John Holik is a senior technician in Dr. Tim Kowalik’s laboratory the Department of Microbiology at UMass Chan Medical School with over 30 years of experience in molecular biology and genetics research, including 7+ years in virology. He specializes in clinical sample processing, genome quantitation, and deep sequencing of various viruses, including human CMV, from hundreds of patient samples. John is responsible for overseeing the sample processing workflow for dPCR quantification of CMV in clinical samples, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in data analysis.

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Anne Mirza | Author, Co-Author

Anne.Mirza@umassmed.edu;
Anne Mirza has nearly 37 years of experience in virology, specializing in tissue culture, including sterile cell passage and infectivity. She has extensive expertise in molecular assays and sequencing, having worked with techniques ranging from radioactive self-poured gels to Illumina NGS. Anne is responsible for managing the sample processing workflow for dPCR quantification of clinical samples, ensuring accurate and efficient data analysis throughout the process.

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Olesea Cojohari | Author, Co-Author

Olesea.Cojohari@umassmed.edu;
Olesea Cojohari is a postdoctoral associate in associate in Dr. Tim Kowalik’s laboratory the Department of Microbiology at UMass Chan Medical School, studying the transmission of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) through the oral mucosa. She focuses on factors that allow the virus to replicate and spread in primary human oral keratinocytes. Olesea earned her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from SUNY Upstate Medical University, researching HCMV infection in monocytes under Dr. Gary Chan. She holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Green Mountain College. Originally from Moldova, Olesea now resides in Massachusetts.

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Stephen Lammi | Author, Co-Author

smlammi@gmail.com;
Stephen Lammi designs, develops, and evaluates technical infrastructure to expedite the quantitative evaluation of data resulting from laboratory based studies. He further establishes and maintains applicable bioinformatics resources for customized research projects, as well sub projects that are the solely computational.

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Elizabeth Orvek | Author, Co-Author

elizabeth.orvek@umassmed.edu;
Elizabeth Orvek specializes in designing, developing and implementing data capture and management systems that incorporate robust quality controls to ensure accurate data entry. She oversaw the collection and validation of childcare center and child-level data, conducted routine quality assurance checks, and generated enrollment dashboards. Additionally, Ms. Orvek supported the study’s quantitative data analysis, prepared summary statistical reports, and ensured all data quality processes were completed prior to finalizing datasets for study analysis.

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Karen Del'Olio | POC-Point of Contact, Author, Co-Author

karen.del'olio@umassmed.edu;
Karen Del’Olio is a seasoned Research Program Manager and Community Engaged Research (CEnR) strategist with extensive expertise in mixed-methods research, epidemiology, and public health. With over two decades of experience across both academia and industry, her work has centered on advising public health professionals and enhancing research study design. Karen excels in stakeholder relations, regulatory affairs, community engagement, and recruitment and retention strategies. She is proficient in survey development, program evaluation, health literacy, and study branding, while ensuring participant-facing materials are accessible. Karen is dedicated to fostering collaboration between communities and researchers, making research both impactful and inclusive.

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Iliana Leony Lasso | Author, Co-Author

Iliana.LeonyLasso@modernatx.com;
Iliana Leony Lasso is an Associate Director of Clinical Operations in the Infectious Disease group at Moderna. She leads operational planning and coordination for several CMV epidemiology studies, including oversight of study updates, accrual tracking, and cross-functional team communications. Iliana’s leadership in operations has been key to driving progress across Moderna’s CMV epidemiology portfolio, ensuring study execution runs smoothly and in alignment with scientific goals.

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Juli Gulpinar | Author, Co-Author

Juli.Gulpinar@modernatx.com;
Juli Gulpinar is a Manager of Clinical Operations in the Infectious Disease group at Moderna. She supports observational studies focused on CMV, including the CMV TransmIT Study. Juli plays a key role in cross-functional coordination, study documentation, and operational execution across multiple CMV initiatives. Her contributions have been instrumental in advancing CMV clinical research, including collaborations with academic partners.

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Sandeep Basnet | Author, Co-Author

sandeep.basnet@modernatx.com;
Sandeep Basnet is a former Director of Clinical Development, Infectious Disease at Moderna. During his tenure, he played a key role in advancing the CMV vaccine program, with notable contributions to the CMV TransmIT study, several epidemiologic studies and CMV clinical trials. At the time of this project, Sandeep Basnet was Director of Clinical Development for Moderna’s CMV program.

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Lori Panther | Author, Co-Author

lori.panther@modernatx.com;
Lori Panther is Vice President of Clinical Development, Infectious Disease at Moderna. She leads the clinical development of Moderna’s CMV vaccine candidate, mRNA-1647, currently in a pivotal Phase 3 trial with aim to evaluate the vaccine’s efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity for the prevention of primary CMV infection in women of childbearing age. She’s a board-certified infectious disease specialist, Dr. Panther brings deep clinical and scientific expertise to Moderna’s latent virus portfolio and plays a key role in advancing CMV vaccine development.

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John Diaz-Decaro | Author, Co-Author

John.Diaz-Decaro@modernatx.com;
John Diaz-Decaro is a Senior Director and Lead Epidemiologist at Moderna, where he leads epidemiologic strategy for the development of vaccines targeting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and other latent viruses. His work supports clinical development for Moderna’s EBV and CMV vaccine programs. Dr. Diaz-Decaro plays a key role in advancing non-interventional studies to assess disease burden, including EBV-associated conditions such as infectious mononucleosis, multiple sclerosis and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. He also contributes to Moderna’s CMV epidemiology research portfolio supporting work on studies focused on investigating infant outcomes associated with congenital CMV, as well as CMV transmission dynamics in daycare settings.

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Timothy Kowalik | Author, Co-Author

timothy.kowalik@umassmed.edu;
Timothy Kowalik, Ph.D. earned a BS in Biology from Belmont Abbey College, followed by an MS and PhD at Utah State University, where he studied the genetic relatedness of US serotypes of bluetongue virus. His postdoctoral work at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University focused on HCMV, cell cycle regulation, and viral transformation. In 1997, he joined UMass Chan Medical School as an Assistant Professor, where he researched HCMV virology and cell growth control, discovering a key receptor that defines CMV tropism. Dr. Kowalik has collaborated extensively on viral evolution and congenital transmission studies. He is currently the Dr. Marcellette G. Williams Distinguished Scholar, a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

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Laura Gibson | Primary Presenter, Author, Co-Author

laura.gibson@umassmed.edu;
Laura Gibson is an Adult and Pediatric Infectious Disease physician at UMass Memorial Health and a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, MA. With over 20 years of experience as a physician-scientist, she combines patient care with translational research, focusing on cytomegalovirus (CMV) and other viruses in vulnerable populations, particularly infants with congenital CMV infection (cCMV). During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, she co-led the Clinical Studies Core (CSC) of the NIH RADx® Program at UMass Chan. The CSC aimed to identify and test point-of-care technologies for rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection in real-world environments.