Leadership
Anat Tambur, DMD, PhD, D[ABHI]
![Transplant Immunology Laboratory Director; Research Professor](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2020/04/anat.jpg)
Transplant Immunology Laboratory Director; Research Professor
Department of Surgery - Comprehensive Transplant Center
The word Doctor originated from the Latin verb “Doc’ere”, or – to teach. This is the most valuable aspect of my work – being an educator – of trainees (I run one of the few HLA laboratory director training fellowships); – of physicians, either via daily consultation for our patients or via presentations at conferences; – and – of anyone who is willing to stop and listen to me talk about HLA, and specifically about HLA-DQ.
Read more about my research, what I love about HLA, and about my hair, on my AST’s member spotlight page.
![Prince Maximilian Shou Bai de Lafayette](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2020/04/doggo.jpg)
Prince Maximilian Shou Bai de Lafayette
Chair; Department of Good Boys
You don’t need good vision to see who’s really in charge around here
David Pinelli, PhD, D[ABHI]
![Transplant Immunology Laboratory Co-Director; Research Assistant Professor](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2020/05/DavePinelli3.png)
Transplant Immunology Laboratory Co-Director; Research Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery - Comprehensive Transplant Center
Dave joined the lab in 2016 after receiving his PhD in Immunology from Emory University. He was first introduced to HLA as a medical technologist in 2009, and worked at Emory University Hospital with Anat’s former mentor, Dr. Howie Gebel, prior to beginning his graduate studies. Dave completed his laboratory director training in the fall of 2020 and is now certified by the American College for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. He is the Assistant Director of the Transplant Immunology lab, as well as the director of the CAP-accredited Clinical Research Laboratory and Biorepository, which supports sample processing, storage, and distribution for numerous internal and external clinical research studies at Northwestern.
His main scientific interests include investigating the factors that influence the formation of de novo donor-specific HLA antibodies, as well as collaborating with clinicians to utilize HLA antibody information to inform clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. Dave also works closely with the Kidney Paired Donation program, which helps find matches for incompatible living donor and recipient pairs.
Aleksander Senev, MD, PhD, F(EBTI), S(ACHI)
![Transplant Immunology Laboratory Associate Director; Research Assistant Professor](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2022/07/IMG_1889.jpg)
Transplant Immunology Laboratory Associate Director; Research Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery - Comprehensive Transplant Center
Alek obtained his MD degree in 2009 at the Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia; and his PhD degree in 2020 at KU Leuven, Belgium. His PhD thesis “innovative approaches for HLA-matching and immune risk stratification in kidney transplantation” led to multiple publications, leading to his impressive list of over 30 manuscript, and numerous invited presentations at national and international conferences.
Alek is a fellow of the European Board of Transplant Immunology and his long-term goal is to contribute to understanding of allograft rejection processes and identifying means to prolong graft survival
Laboratory Manager
![Nancy Herrera, MS, CHS(ABHI)](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2020/04/Nancy-full.jpg)
Nancy Herrera, MS, CHS(ABHI)
Nancy Herrera has been working in HLA for the past 19 years. She started her HLA career as a research assistant studying the role of monocyte derived dendritic cells in antigen processing and presentation. She was then promoted to supervise the clinical research laboratory of the Northwestern University Comprehensive Transplant Program. In 2011, she moved into the clinical setting, to become the supervisor of the HLA antibody identification and monitoring group of the Transplant Immunology Laboratory and she now serves as the General Laboratory Manager of the Northwestern University Transplant Immunology Laboratories. Nancy is an ABHI Certified Histocompatibility Technologist (CHT) and Specialist (CHS) since 2006 and holds a Master’s degree in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Science from Northwestern University. Nancy loves HLA and cannot find a day when she has not learned something new in the field.
Clinical Laboratory Supervisors
![](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2020/03/PERS-PHOTO.jpg)
Yelena Barabanova
Molecular Laboratory Supervisor
My name is Елена Александровна Барабанова. I’ve been working in HLA for 30 years. For the first 10 years I worked in what is now the Histocompatibility Lab of the Gift of Hope, Inc. I was a full-time 2nd shift tech for the first 6 years there, and part time for the last 4, during which time I was getting my MS in Immunology at the Integrated Graduate Program in Life Sciences here at Northwestern University. I started working in our lab immediately after graduation and never left, – started as a tech, promoted to tech II, senior tech, and finally, to Molecular group Supervisor. I have been in that position for the last 10 years. I oversee the daily workflow of all tests performed in the molecular group – low to intermediate and high resolution HLA typing for transplant recipients and donors, and engraftment monitoring testing by STR. There are 10 people in molecular group, and I would much rather talk about them than about myself, because they are awesome. I am certainly very proud to work here because I never have to ponder on meaning of my life – I got it simply because it is given to me by my job description.
The funniest thing about me is that a lot of people find me intimidating upon the first encounter. My favorite things are books, my favorite pastime is reading them.
![](https://sites.northwestern.edu/tamburlab/files/2020/03/murali.jpg)
Muralidhar (Murali) Gopalakrishnan
Flow Cytometry Laboratory Supervisor
I hold a B.Tech in Biotechnology from SRM University in Chennai, India and Master’s in Biology specializing in Cell & Molecular Biology from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, US. I am also a Certified Histocompatibility Specialist: CHS (ABHI).
I joined Northwestern University – Feinberg School of Medicine as a Research Technologist in 2010. Currently, I am the Medical Lab Supervisor for the Antibody Monitoring Lab. With significant experience in pre and post solid organ transplant tests, my primary responsibility now involves review and approval of antibody test results for all solid organ transplants at Northwestern Memorial and Lurie’s Children Hospital in addition to quality assurance and lab management. I love what I do, because I get to impact lives one spin at a time!
When I am not working, I am likely uncovering vegetarian-friendly restaurants around the city with my wife or tucked away at home binge-watching, reading and napping.