We’re excited to share that two new members have joined the Rafie Lab family: Victor Gawriljuk Ferraro Oliveira, who is starting as a postdoc, and Amanda Estevam Carvalho, a visiting PhD student from Brazil. 🎉

Victor has a background in structural biology and has spent the last few years studying how different infectious diseases work at the molecular level. He’ll be diving into the fascinating world of adenoviruses here in the lab, helping us understand how viral proteins function and how we might outsmart them.

Amanda joins us from Brazil, where her PhD work normally focuses on the lung. She’s here for a short stint in virology, exploring how adenoviruses use their proteins to kick-start and maintain infection. During her visit, she’ll be helping us identify viral “weak spots” that could inspire the development of new antiviral strategies.

Both Victor and Amanda will be working on projects centered around understanding how adenoviruses (and their proteins) promote infection — all with the goal of helping us design better, smarter antiviral approaches in the future.

We’re thrilled to have them on board. If you see them around the lab or department, please say hello and make them feel welcome! 😊