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Division Director of Laboratory Medicine

Dr. Leal has a broad background in microbiology, immunology, and medicine with residency training in clinical pathology and fellowship training in medical microbiology. He is the Director of the UAB Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Fungal Reference Lab, and UAB’s High Containment Research Facility (SEBLAB) with significant expertise in the diagnosis of infectious diseases, medical mycology, and SARS-CoV-2 biology.

His research interests are 4-fold and include 1. Expert laboratory support for a variety of Infectious Disease (ID) clinical trials, 2. Evaluation of new commercial diagnostic tests seeking FDA approval, 3. Development of novel ID diagnostics, and 4. The mechanistic evaluation of host and microbial factors mediating the outcome of invasive mold infections in otherwise healthy hosts including: COVID-Associated 2° mold infections (CAPA/CAM), fungal keratitis, phaeohyphyomycosis, and dimorphic fungal infections.

As the SEBLAB Director, he is currently leading the implementation of cutting-edge scientific equipment and a scientific research team to support in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo research on high-containment pathogens.

Email: smleal@uabmc.edu

Animal Care Supervisor-Containment Labs

Graduate of Shades Valley High School in Birmingham, Alabama in 1986. Received a Bachelor of Arts in History/minor in Biology from UAB in 2000. Received American Association of Laboratory Animal Science Certification of Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician (ALAT) in 1991 and Laboratory Animal Technician (LAT) in 1997.

  Highly diverse experience in the animal care field with 35 year experience in animal care. Worked 6 years in the animal care group at Southern Research Institute, 2 ½ years as an animal care technician with UAB, 5 ½ years with the Birmingham Zoo as a zookeeper, and for the past 21 ½ years working as a supervisor for UAB Animal Resources Program.

  Current role at SEBLAB is to oversee animal care, animal care equipment, assist other SEBLAB staff as needed, and support SEBLAB operations.

Email: jmurphy@uab.edu

Animal Lab Specialist II- Containment Labs

Robert graduated from Shades Valley High School in 2008 and went on to earn an Associate degree in Biology from Jefferson State Community College. Following this, Robert got transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he is currently working towards completing his Bachelor's degree. With 14 years of experience as a Lab Animal Technician, Robert have honed skills and expertise in this field.

At SEBLAB, Robert is serving as an Animal Laboratory Specialist 2 where he continue to apply his extensive knowledge and experience in animal care and laboratory settings.

Email: ralldred@uab.edu

Research Operations Manager-Biocontainment

Douglas Fox received his Ph.D (Chemistry/Chemical Biology) after studies at the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University in the laboratory of Carolyn Bertozzi.  His research focused on the unique trehalose metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and approaches to antitubercular drug development informed by Mtb's intracellular niche.  He joined UC Berkeley as a staff scientist and (A)BSL3 manager early in the COVID-19 pandemic and helped those facilities initiate in vitro and in vivo SARS-CoV-2 research.  He also coordinated and performed experiments for dozens of on-campus and off-campus COVID-19 investigators.  More recently he has been involved with tuberculosis vaccine research aimed at characterizing how novel adjuvants and routes of administration affect vaccine efficacy in animal models of tuberculosis.

As SEBLAB's Research Operations Manager, Douglas has overall responsibility for ensuring that SEBLAB's facility and scientific equipment operate safely and sustainably.  He is actively involved in establishing new research collaborations, understanding investigators' emerging research interests, and adapting SEBLAB's technology and procedures to produce high-impact, high-quality research in infectious disease.

Email: foxdm@uab.edu

Researcher V

Francisco is from Zaragoza, Spain, with a Ph.D in Virology from the University of St Andrews and a BS in Biochemistry from the University Complutense of Madrid. Fran’s research interests focus on understanding virus life cycles, host-virus interactions, and their impact on the host immune system. Fran is particularly intrigued by the mechanisms viruses use to hijack cellular processes for replication and spread, as well as the host's countermeasures against viral infections. Outside of Fran’s professional pursuits, he enjoys exploring history, reading, traveling, and playing badminton.

At SEBLAB, Fran is involved in establishing and operating integrated research cores, with a primary focus on the in vitro core, where he applies his expertise in virology and protein purification.

Email: fran81@uab.edu

Researcher V

Por completed her BS and MS in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in Thailand and joined UAB as a Ph.D student in 2018. Her research focuses on the impact of iron on neutrophil killing function during SARS-CoV-2 infection. In her free time, Por enjoys baking, going for long runs in the city, and volunteering as a foster for kittens.

Por is a Researcher V in the SEBLAB core research team. Her role involves the effective use of basic and advanced scientific equipment within containment and collaborating with researchers to execute experiments.

Email: sawanan@uab.edu

Director of Research Safety

Justin received his doctorate under Stanton Gerson in the Molecular Virology Program at Case Western Reserve University. His thesis work was focused on developing lentiviral vectors for targeted gene transfer and selective enrichment of therapeutic stem cells in vivo.  As a postdoctoral fellow, Justin worked with David Curiel to develop targeting strategies for cell- and adenovirus-based delivery of therapeutics. After his fellowship, Justin joined the faculty in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, to develop oncolytic herpes virus vectors, and manage a Vector Production Core for GLP grade viruses.

In 2014, Justin joined the Department of Environmental Health & Safety at UAB as the Assistant Director of Biosafety. He is now the Director of Research Safety and Alternate Responsible Official, overseeing the comprehensive Research Safety program at UAB, including high containment work at SEBLAB. Justin also serves as a consultant and Vice Chair for Advarra Biosafety Services, and he is a Co-chair for NIAID’s RBL Biosafety Subgroup. 

Email: jcroth@uab.edu

Senior Safety Officer-Biosafety

Mr. LaGory received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Since then he has acquired decades of experience in highly regulated environments including GLP (21 CFR part 58), Select Agents and Tier One Select Agents (42 CFR Part 73, 9 CFR Part 121). He has over 20 years of experience working in both contract research and academic high containment labs. This experience includes working directly with agents, training others for high containment work, and managing A/BSL-3 research teams. This experience encompasses a wide variety of animal models including NHPs (macaques), Ferrets, Rabbits, Rodents, etc., along with in vitro assays and practices, plethysmography and aerobiology. He has extensive experience writing and reviewing SOPs for high containment laboratories and practices.

  Mr. LaGory is the Assistant Biosafety Officer and Responsible Official, he oversees the select agent program at SEBLAB. This includes development and implementation of training programs, hands on training of personnel in proper biosafety practices and procedures and the review of new and existing SOPs and policies He is also responsible for the inventory of Select Agents, performs regular inspections of SEBLAB containment spaces for potential biosafety and biosecurity compliance issues, and leads outside regulatory agency inspections of UAB facilities including SEBLAB.

Email: blagory@uab.edu

Assistant Biosafety Officer

Vineel received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Delhi, India in 2012. His research focused on the identification and validation of iron metabolism genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and his work demonstrated their critical role in the pathogenesis of Tuberculosis. In 2013, he joined UAB as a post-doctoral fellow and focused his research on the role of ferritin Heavy chain (FtH) on TB infection outcome using a murine model. In addition, as senior research associate his research work involved identification and repurposing of FDA-approved drugs that modulate host metabolic pathways with the potential to combat TB drug resistance and improve disease outcomes. In 2022, with several years of high containment research experience, Vineel transitioned into new role as the Research Safety Manager-Biosafety. In this position he is responsible for oversight of online and in-person BSL-3 training for students and staff. Conducting biosafety inspections, ensuring safe containment practices are followed as per regulations, reviewing of project registrations and laboratory-specific standard operating procedures.

Email: vineel@uab.edu

Research Safety Manager-Biocontainment

Originally from Miami, Florida, Joseph earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Florida International University (FIU) in 2016. He then relocated to Birmingham, where he helped establish a new lab in the Biology Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). After serving as a lab manager for two years, Joseph transitioned into the graduate program and earned his PhD from UAB in 2023. His doctoral research focused on identifying gene expression changes associated with decreased reactivation potential of melanocyte stem cells with age. Most notably, he uncovered a novel PD-L1+ subpopulation linked to increased depth quiescence, slower reactivation ability, and are retained with age.

This work led to the filing of a provisional patent covering several treatments that targeted these PD-L1+ melanocyte stem cells to prevent and/or reverse the emergence of gray hair and is still an active area of research in his graduate lab. Driven by an interest in the business side of science, Joseph enrolled in the MBA program for small business and entrepreneurship at UAB's Collat School of Business, earning his degree in late 2022. Joseph is excited to bring his unique blend of scientific and business expertise to the SEBLAB team and help drive its success.

Email: jpalmer1@uab.edu

Facilities and Operations Specialist

Kirk Vantrease Graduated from Carrington College, Wichita Falls, Texas in Digital Electronics. Kirk started working as Nuclear Biological Chemical Specialist 54E U.S. Army at Giebelstadt, Germany. Later he worked as Nuclear Decontamination Specialist North Anna Nuclear Power Generation Station, Virginia, USA. With all the experience he gained, Kirk joined UAB as HVAC -Instrument and Control Mechanic. Kirk lives on a 4-acre farm in Cullman, Alabama with his wife and daughter. 

At SEBLAB, Kirk is Facilities and Operations Specialist, overseeing the maintenance, operation, and compliance of the facility's physical infrastructure. 

Email: kvantre@uab.edu