Meet our team!
William DePas, PhD
Principal Investigator
Will hails from the upper peninsula of Michigan. He earned his BS in Microbiology from Michigan State University (Go Green!) and his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan (which provided such a great grad school experience that he can now also say Go Blue!). While at Michigan he worked in Matt Chapman’s lab studying how uropathogenic E. coli regulates biofilm formation. Will then joined Dianne Newman’s lab at Caltech for his postdoc where he began working on developing in situ imaging technology and investigating biofilm formation/dispersal by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Will joined the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as an assistant professor on July 1st, 2019.
Ifra Malik, BS
Research Technician
Ifra is a recent graduate from the University of Pittsburgh holding a BS in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry (Hail to Pitt!). She joined the DePas lab in September 2019 as a Research Technician and hopes to increase our understanding of NTM physiology and mechanisms of pathogenesis before heading off to medical school!
Carlos Rodriguez
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Carlos joined the lab on February 11, 2020. He comes to us all the way from the Wild West, also known as Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a current undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, pursuing his Bachelor’s in Microbiology. He intends to continue his education through the University’s school of Public Health and eventually obtain his Ph.D. through the Infectious Diseases and Microbiology program. One day, Carlos hopes to become a pathologist for the CDC and help change the world.
Mitchell Meyer, BS
Graduate Student
Mitch was born and raised in southeastern Michigan. He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a double BS in Chemistry and Biology. While at EMU, Mitch completed his senior thesis on his work in Steven Backues’ lab studying the role and specific binding action of Yeast selective autophagy proteins. During his undergrad years, he also worked with Dr. Anna Mapp at the University of Michigan as a Perrigo fellow and Dr. Roberto Cattaneo at the Mayo Clinic SURF program. Mitch joined the DePas lab in April 2020 and is working toward earning his Ph.D. in Microbiology through the University of Pittsburgh’s Program in Microbiology and Immunology (PMI). Mitch is interested in studying the factors that drive the formation and dispersal of NTM biofilms.
Yu-Hao Wang (Sean), MS BS
Graduate Student
Sean hails from across half a globe from the distant island of Taiwan. He graduated from the University of Rochester with a BS degree in Microbiology and Immunology, along with a certificate in Biotechnology. He then went on to attend and graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a MS degree in Biotechnology. During his undergrad and master years, Sean has worked with a number of PIs, studying different topics in microbiology. He worked with Dr. Martin Pavelka at U of R to study the protease MarP and its role in M. smegmatis cell wall maintenance. He also worked with Dr. Jun Zhu at UPenn to study V. cholerae biofilm formation, then moved to Dr. Paul Planet's lab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to study S. aureus colonization. Sean joined the DePas lab in April 2021 and is now working toward earning his Ph.D. in Microbiology through the University of Pittsburgh’s Program in Microbiology and Immunology (PMI). Sean is interested in studying the environmental factors that contribute to formation of NTM biofilms.