People | Emory School of Medicine

Ann Chahroudi, MD, PhD

Professor and Vice Chair for Basic Research and Career Development,
Co-Director, Pediatric Residency Investigative Scholars at Emory (PRISE) Program,
Co-Director, Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)

Education and Clinical Training
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship,
Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

General Pediatrics Residency, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
MD, PhD from Emory University School of Medicine
BA from Brown University

Dr. Chahroudi started her laboratory in 2013 and leads a team of amazing scientists focused on HIV persistence, using nonhuman primate models to evaluate translational interventions towards an HIV cure, as well as investigations of the neurologic consequences of postnatal Zika virus infection in early life. Dr. Chahroudi received an NIH MERIT award (R37 AI157862) in 2021 and is Co-Program Director of the PAVE Martin Delaney Collaboratory (UM1 AI164566).

Dr. Chahroudi is passionate about the training of scientists and physician scientists. She is the founding director of the Pediatric Residency Investigative Scholars at Emory (PRISE) Program and the Emory Pediatrics and Pathology Stimulating Access to Research in Residency Program (R38 HL167243). She is the training director for the Atlanta Pediatric Scholars Program (K12 HD072245) Dr. Chahroudi also serves on the Society for Pediatric Research Executive Council as Co-Lead for Pediatric Scientist Development.

Dr. Chahroudi is an Attending Physician at the Ryan White Part D funded pediatric/adolescent HIV program (the Ponce Pediatric, Family and Youth Clinic) of the Grady Health System Infectious Diseases Program. She also consults on the inpatient general infectious diseases clinical service for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Patrick Whang Lab Manager

Patrick is the Chahroudi Lab Manager. He graduated from Arizona State University with his BSc in Microbiology and later received his MSc in Microbiology and Immunology from University of Louisville.
Aside from his scientific interest in understanding host interactions with infectious disease, he keeps the pulse on the Atlanta metro dining scene so both family and co-workers eat well.

Venkata Viswanadh Edara, PhD Associate Research Scientist

Venkata graduated from Texas A&M University Kingsville with an MS in chemistry and then received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, TX. As a graduate student, he studied the consequences of HIV-1 integration in human astrocytes and how LTR activity impacts the functional responses of HIV-infected astrocytes. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, long walks with his dog, Rakhi, and practicing photography.

Venkata’s current work focuses on identifying cellular and anatomical sources of on-ART viremia during SIV latency reversal in adult rhesus macaques.

Jairo Fonseca, MD Instructor

Jairo received his MD from the National University of Colombia and completed his residency in pediatrics at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine. He is currently undergoing subspecialty fellowship training in pediatric infectious diseases at Emory University and is a postdoctoral fellow in the Chahroudi lab. His main research interests are the understanding of the mechanisms of HIV latency formation in children and the role of immune system ontogenesis in HIV reservoirs. Jairo is also interested in the development of immunotherapeutics as latency reversal agents. Jairo received the prestigious Pediatric Scientist Development Program K12 Award and is recognized as an NIH Office of AIDS Scholar.

Vinh Dinh Postdoctoral Fellow

Vinh is a postdoctoral fellow in the Chahroudi lab. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a BSc in Microbiology, where he also did research in mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases. He would later receive his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami. During his PhD, he investigated the interplay of HIV and the development of the immune system during the first 2 years of life. In his spare time, Vinh likes to stay active and go for a run and compete in races.

Vinh is currently researching the effect of fostemsavir and broadly neutralizing antibodies on viral decay and reservoir size in SHIV-infected infant rhesus macaques and evaluating their anti-HIV response.

Tehillah Taonga Chinunga PhD Candidate

Tehillah is a PhD candidate in the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis Program co-mentored by Dr. Chahroudi and Dr. Susan Ribeiro. She is interested in understanding host-pathogen interactions that direct HIV persistence in childhood. Based on a retrospective cohort of SIV-infected infant rhesus macaques, she is currently studying how the metabolome and immune responses impact reservoir size and viral rebound.

Daniel Kim PhD Candidate

Daniel is a graduate student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics program. He is interested in how latency reversal and immune stimulation can impact reservoir establishment using an infant macaque model. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing soccer and driving his beloved Miata.

Kedan Endrias Research Specialist

Kedan is a Research Specialist who provides support in ongoing adult and infant SIV studies. She completed her master’s in medical science at Georgia State University. Outside of work, she enjoys reading.

Kaleaha Shaunna Davis Research Specialist

Kaleaha is a Research Specialist supporting infant and adult SIV studies. She received a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from Spelman College. With a love for research and patient care, she is applying to medical school to pursue an M.D.-PhD, where she is interested in pediatric research.

Danielle Lin Undergraduate

Danielle is an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Chahroudi lab. She is majoring in Chemistry on the premedical track and is interested in Pediatrics and women's health. During her free time, Danielle likes to go on long runs, try out new recipes, and play pickleball!

Aheli Mojumdar Undergraduate

Aheli is an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Chahroudi lab. She is interested in healthcare and improving health outcomes. In her free time, she enjoys enjoys discovering new music and baking!

Camryn Cockerham Undergraduate

Camryn is an Undergraduate Research Assistant who provides support to ongoing projects in the lab and is a current Senior majoring in Health Science at Spelman College. She hopes to obtain her PhD in Immunology and pursue a career in research and public health advocacy. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, painting, and exercising.