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September 2022

Our work analyzing HIV cooperating antibodies has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Immunology! Emma Parker Miller '22 and Maxwell Finkelstein '22 were the main drivers of this study. 

Finkelstein*, M.T, Parker Miller*, E., Erdman, M.C., and Fera, D. (2022) Analysis of Two Cooperating Antibodies Unveils Immune Pressure Imposed on HIV Env to Elicit a V3-Glycan Supersite Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Lineage. (*equal contribution) (Accepted)
June 2022
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Fera Lab members presented posters at the ACS regional meeting  (June 1-4) at TCNJ in Ewing, NJ. Shown, beginning from the left are in top left image: Daniel Naagaard '24, Molly Erdman '23, Quynn Hotan '23, Sabrina Lin '23, in top right image: Sabrina Lin '23 and Daniel Naagaard '24, bottom left image: Quynn Hotan '23 and David Ye '23, bottom right image: Molly Erdman '23.

May 2022
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Fera Lab end of semester celebrations. On the left and middle - lab lunch at Tavola Restaurant. On the right - Emma Parker Miller '22 and Max Finkelstein '22 celebrate the completion of their honors theses!

April 2022



​Emma Parker Miller '22 presented her thesis work at the senior showcase.
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Fera Lab members and CHEM58 students presented posters at the ASBMB conference (April 2-5) in Philadelphia. Shown, beginning from the left are: Scout Hayashi '22, Gwen Glatz '22, Daniel Naagaard '24, Quynn Hotan '23, Ming (David) Ye '23, Sabrina Lin '23, and Molly Erdman '23. Sabrina and Daniel also presented a separate poster (on the right).

January 2022

The lab welcomes new members!


Gwen Glatz '22
Quynn Hotan '23
Ming Ye '23

September 2021

Our review giving a structural update of HIV-1 antibody complexes has been accepted for publication!

Parker Miller*, E., Finkelstein*, M.T, Erdman, M.C., Seth, P.C., and Fera, D. (2021) A Structural Update of Neutralizing Epitopes on the HIV Envelope, a Moving Target. Viruses. (Accepted). (*equal contribution)

August 2021
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​The lab made the front cover of "Stories of Summer Research" this summer!  In his statement, Max said the following:

“While I loved the research and aim to pursue related work in graduate school, one of the best parts of my summer was the warm, tight-knit, wonderful community that developed in our lab throughout the ten weeks. I looked forward to every day in the lab, because the science was fascinating and because I would smile and laugh as I worked alongside my labmates. Our summer ended with Professor Fera treating us to dinner in Philly; we piled into a minivan to sing road trip-themed songs there and back (John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was the clear favorite). I’m no singer, but that wasn’t the focus — it was about us being together and feeling close enough to be foolish among friends. I am grateful to Professor Fera for developing us into a fantastic community of young scientists.”

May 2021

The first full lab in-person gathering in over a year!
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Our work analyzing antibodies from rhesus macaques immunized against HIV has been published!

​Williams, W.B, Meyerhoff, R.R., Edwards R.J., Li, H., Manne, K., Nicely, N., Henderson, R., Zhou, Y., Janowska, K., Mansouri, K., Gobeil, S., Evangelous, T., Hora, B., Madison, B., Abuahmad, A.Y., Sprenz, J., Deyton, M., Stalls, V., Kopp, M., Hsu, A., Borgnia, M., Stewart-Jones, G., Lee, M., Bronkema, N., Moody, M.A., Wiehe, K., Bradley, T., Alam, S.M., Parks, R.J., Foulger, A., Oguin, T., Bonsignori, M., LaBranche, C.C., Montefiori, D.C., Seaman, M., Santra, S., Perfect, J., Francica, J., Lynn, G., Aussedet, B., Walkowicz, W.E., Laga, R., Kelsoe, G., Saunders, K.O, Fera, D., Kwong P.D., Seder, R., Bartesaghi, A., Shaw, G.M., Acharya, P., and Haynes, B.F., (2021) Fab-dimerized glycan-reactive antibodies are a structural category of natural antibodies. Cell (accepted)  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.042

April 2021

After a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lab is finally open again to students!!

The lab also welcomes new members:
Maxwell Finkelstein '22
Molly Erdman '23
Sabrina Lin '23
Daniel Naagaard '24
Tammy Pham '24

January 2021

Our review of SARS-CoV-2 antibody structural studies has been published!

​Finkelstein, M.X, Mermelstein, A.G., Parker Miller, E., Seth, P.C., Stancofski, E.D., and Fera, D. (2021) . Structural Analysis of Neutralizing Epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike to Guide Therapy and Vaccine Design Strategies. Viruses. 13(1), 134; doi:10.3390/v13010134

December 2020
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Our kinase work has just been published!


Nguyen, D., Lin, Y, Zhou, J.O., Kibby, E., Sia, T., Tillis, T., Vapuryan, N., Xu, M.R., Potluri, R., Shin, Y.J., Erler, E., Bronkema, N., Boehlmer, D., Chung, C., Burkhard, C., Zeng, S.H., Grasso, M., Acevedo, L.A., Marmorstein, R., and Fera, D. 
(2020) Identification and Characterization of a Critical Alpha Helix in B-Raf Kinase Critical for the Activity of MEK Kinase in MAPK Signaling. Biochemistry. 

July 2020

Time during a pandemic = Fera Lab explores all SARS-CoV-2 antibodies published to date!
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June 2020

Our work analyzing anti-HIV antibodies has been accepted for publication!

Zhou, J.O., Zaidi, H.A., Ton, T., and Fera, D. (2020) The effects of framework mutations at the variable domain interface on antibody affinity maturation in an HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody lineage. 
Frontiers in Immunology. (accepted).

(Swarthmore College undergraduate researchers underlined)

April 2020 - flu month!
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Our work contributing to flu vaccine design strategies has been published!

​Bajic, G., Maron, M., Caradonna, T., Tian, M., Mermelstein, A., Fera, D., Kelsoe, G., Kuraoka, M, Schmidt, A. (2020) Structure-guided molecular grafting of a complex broadly neutralizing viral epitope. ACS Infect Dis. 2020
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(
Swarthmore College undergraduate researchers underlined)


The lab spent a coronavirus pandemic evening shooting crystals of an anti-flu antibody:
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March 2020

The lab welcomes new members!
Emma Parker Miller '22
Paul Seth '22
Erik-Stephane Stancofski '21

December 2019

​Members of the Fera and Howard labs attended the annual retreat held at Skytop Lodge in the Pocono Mountains and hosted by the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Elizabeth Erler '20 (left, Howard lab) and Naomi Bronkema '20 (center, Fera lab) each presented a poster. 
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September 2019
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​Naomi Bronkema gave an oral presentation of her work, "Structural Characterization of an HIV-1 Env with a Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Precursor" at the 
Undergraduate Science Research Symposium at Haverford.
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July 2019

The lab goes out to see the Phillies! 

April 2019
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​Julia and Jeffrey presented their honors theses.

​MARCH 2019

Julia Morriss presented a poster on her work, "Structural Analysis of an Early Intermediate of the DH270 Broadly Neutralizing B-cell Lineage" at the HIV Vaccines Keystone Meeting in Whistler, BC Canada​​

The lab welcomes new members!

Naomi Bronkema '20
Sarah Leonard '21
Adam Mermelstein '21

Hussain Zaidi '22
Pearl Zhang '22

Lab members at work (or playing with liquid nitrogen)

August 2018

Summer lab gathering (antibody cookie baking party) at Daniela's place

May 2018

Lab lunch at Broad Table Tavern 


Seminar dinner at Daniela's place

May 5, 2018
​Jeffrey and Therese presented their work at the FCBIS symposium at Penn.
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March 2018

​The lab welcomes new members: Emilie Morse and Julia Morriss!



Our manuscript has been accepted and published!

Fera, D., Lee, M.S., Wiehe, K., Meyerhoff, R.R., Piai, A., Bonsignori, M., Aussedat, B., Walkowicz, W.E., Ton, T., Zhou, J.O., Danishefsky, S., Haynes, B.F., and Harrison, S.C. (accepted) HIV Envelope V3 Region Mimic Embodies Key Features of a Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Lineage Epitope. Nature Communications 

(Swarthmore College undergraduate researchers underlined)


The lab's first crystals!

Follow us on Twitter: @LabFera or on Instagram (swatferalab)

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