Members of the VIDE Group

About us

Our research group consists of scientists at all academic levels who work together towards developing the next-generation of rAAVs and other therapeutic platforms. Our researchers are diverse and hail from a range of training backgrounds.  Many of our research objectives are in collaboration with the Gao Lab and other prominent scientists in the Horae Gene Therapy Center and UMass Chan Medical School.

Phil Tai, PhD

Assistant Professor
phillip.tai2 at umassmed.edu

Phil graduated from UC Berkeley (BA, Molecular and Cellular Biology), and University of Washington (PhD, Biochemistry). His research focuses on the development of next-gen sequencing methodologies to profile AAV vector genome quality, and discovery and characterization of natural AAV capsid isolates for vectorization and gene therapy.

Tapan Sharma, PhD

Research Associate IV
Tapan.Sharma at umassmed.edu

Tapan hails from India where he received his Ph.D. from the School of Life Sciences at JNU, New Delhi. His past research was focused on understanding the role of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling enzymes in cancer cell growth and skeletal muscle development. His current project involves designing AAV vectors that can be delivered to target tissues while evading immune system responses. He loves hiking and playing badminton.

Serena David, MS

Graduate Student
Serena.David1 at umassmed.edu

Serena grew up in Massachusetts before attending Carleton College (BS, Biology) and WPI (MS, Biotechnology).  Her past research has involved developing methods to sequence novel bases through nanopore sequencing.  Currently, she is focusing on investigating how mutated or truncated AAV ITRs could have certain distinct integration site preferences into the host genome.  She enjoys reading novels, knitting, and walking in conservation land.

Lab alumni	Years	Current position
Sandhiya Ravi, PhD	2021-2026	Currently a Computational Biologist at UMass Chan Medical School
If you would like to be added to the list of Tai Group alumni or have updates, please email me: phillip.tai2 at umassmed.edu