Principal Investigator
Silvia Galván Peña, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology
Program in Microbiome Dynamics
Education:
B.A. Immunology, Trinity College Dublin
PhD Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin; Immunology Catalyst, GlaxoSmithKline
Postdoctoral training, Immunology, Harvard Medical School
Silvia Galván Peña received a BA in Immunology from Trinity College Dublin in 2013. She joined the Luke O’Neill Lab for her PhD in Biochemistry and Immunology, where she studied metabolic reprogramming in macrophages. As part of her PhD, she also spent time in the UK, where she joined the first cohort of the Immunology Catalyst program at GlaxoSmithKline. After graduating from her PhD in 2018, she joined the Christophe Benoist and Diane Mathis Lab at Harvard Medical School for her postdoctoral work. Funded by an EMBO postdoctoral fellowship, her postdoctoral work used systems level approaches to understand host-microbe interactions. In September 2024, she joined the Program of Microbiome Dynamics in the Department of Microbiology at UMass Chan Medical School as an assistant professor.
In addition to her passion for research, she is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in academia, as well as training and mentoring the next generation of outstanding scientists. In her spare time, Silvia enjoys traveling and reading.
Lab Members
Essi Tchalla, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Essi, originally from Togo in West Africa, came to the United States in 2013 where she obtained a B.S in Biomedical Sciences from the University at Buffalo (UB) in 2018. She later joined the lab of Dr. Elsa Bou Ghanem as a PhD student in the department of Microbiology and Immunology at UB. In December 2024, Essi successfully defended her PhD thesis focused on understanding the role of neutrophils during vaccination against Streptococcus pneumoniae. She joined the Galván Peña lab in June 2025, where she is excited to contribute to research on the effect of the microbiome on the immune system
Ryan Caldwell
Research Associate III
Ryan Caldwell graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He then joined the Jackson Laboratory in Connecticut where he conducted basic research on the microbiome’s role in human health and its potential for therapeutic applications, as a member of the Julia Oh Lab. He joined the Galván Peña lab in November 2024, where continues to pursue his passion in microbiome research.
Lab Culture and Values
A note from Dr. Galván Peña: As a mentor, the well-being of each person within my research group will be essential, and I will create a supportive environment where every member feels valued, listened to, and respected. My mentoring style is rooted in one-on-one meetings, responding and adapting to the needs of my mentees, the status of their research projects, and their level of independence. I will also encourage the use of Individual Development Plans, which will encourage students to think about their career goals and how I may support them in achieving them. I will foster a creative lab environment through regular lab meetings, journal clubs, and group brainstorming sessions. Members of the group will be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills and pursue their own ideas, not simply do experiments.