People

Charles J. Dimitroff
Professor, with Tenure, Department of Translational Medicine
Director, Translational Glycobiology Institute at Florida International University

Charles Dimitroff, Ph.D., is a global leader in the study of sugars, known as glycobiology, and is highly motivated to translate glycobiological findings to help cure diseases and improve the overall health of humans. His research focuses on understanding how sugars or ‘glycans’ regulate immune and cancer cell functions with the goal of developing new approaches to boost the immune system to fight diseases and to treat cancer progression. As a principal investigator for over 26 years, his efforts have helped identify the nature and impact of glycans on inflammation and cancer, while operating one of the most reputable translational glycobiology programs in the US.  

Dr. Dimitroff’s administrative duties and laboratory is grounded within the Department of Translational Medicine in the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) at Florida International University (FIU). His laboratory is located in the Translational Glycobiology Institute at FIU (TGIF), in which he serves as its Founding Director. At the TGIF, he fosters collaborative glycoscience activities in medicine while training the next generation of basic and clinical research scientists in glycosciences.

Kimberly Justin
Senior Executive Assistant

Kimberly Justin has been with FIU HWCOM for over 5 years and is a recent graduate of FIU’s Leadership Education Advancement Program. Justin joined the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in 2014, where she began her career as an Administrative Assistant in the Department of immunology and Nano-Medicine. Justin plans and directs the day-to-day office operations for Charles Dimitroff, the Director of the Translational Glycobiology Institute at FIU.

Jordan Carroll
Research Assistant

Jordan Carroll is a Research Assistant for the Dimitroff Lab in the Translational Glycobiology Institute at FIU (TGIF). As part of the team, she assists with various ongoing research projects related to the role of glycome-proteome interactions in predicting and modulating cancer progression. Jordan recently earned her Bachelor's degree from FIU and plans to further develop her scientific career by becoming a physician.

Carlos Pavan, Ph.D.
Research Specialist II

Carlos Pavan is Research Specialist II in the Translational Glycobiology Institute at HWCOM. After graduating from Buenos Aires University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Pharmacy, he joined the National Laboratory for Research and Service in Peptides and Proteins and Mass Spectrometry, LANAIS PROEM, where he became the Technical Manager in 2013. In 2019, Pavan got his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science and Biochemistry working with mass spectrometry techniques to study nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. He is proficient in Mass Spectrometry, HPLC, and protein sequencing by Edman degradation. Pavan was an instructor in Pharmacology for almost 20 years, teaching undergraduate and graduate students.

Alexandra Firek
Research Assistant

Alexandra Firek is a medical student at FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida where she studied mouse models using cryosectioning and immunofluorescence analysis. As a research intern for the Summer Research Fellowship Program (SFRP), she worked with other lab members to analyze the effects of a specific galectin on multiple myeloma cells as well as the upregulation of a promising immunotherapeutic antibody target.

Norhan Mohammed
Research Assistant 

Norhan Mohammed, M.D., MSc, is a Biochemistry Ph.D. student at FIU and a research assistant in the Translational Glycobiology Institute at HWCOM. Her research project in Dr. Dimitroff’s lab focuses on studying the structure of melanoma cell surface glycans (sugars) and their binding proteins, namely Galectin-3, and identifying their role in melanoma progression.  She aims to develop a novel biomarker capable of early detection of melanoma and discover new targets for melanoma therapy.

Norhan obtained her medical degree from Assiut University, Egypt. She worked as a resident physician in the Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology Department at Assiut University Hospital. Afterward, Norhan completed her Master’s in Medical Biochemistry from South Valley University (SVU), Egypt.

Contact Norhan Mohammed at nmoha027@fiu.edu

Lee Seng Lau
Research Assistant

Lee Seng Lau was born in Nicaragua and grew up in Miami, Florida, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Florida International University. She is an FEF McKnight Fellow and is currently pursuing graduate studies in Biomedical Science at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, working under the supervision of Dr. Dimitroff. Lau is presently studying the role of glycans in adaptive immunity.

Joseph Souchak
Research Assistant

Joseph Souchak is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Dimitroff’s lab at the Translational Glycobiology Institute (TGIF) at FIU. He joined Dr. Dimitroff’s lab at FIU in May of 2020. Before joining the CD laboratory, Mr. Souchak served in the United States Marine Corps and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology at Miami-Dade College. His research will be working on the Novel glycobiological mechanisms of melanoma metastasis and melanoma glycan-probing-surveillance (GPS) treatment.

Rajib Kumar Shil
Research Assistant

Rajib Kumar Shil is a Presidential Fellow pursuing a Ph.D.  in Biomedical Sciences at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. As part of his doctoral work, he is studying the role of galectin-9 in multiple myeloma in the Dimitroff Lab. Shil completed his Master of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. 

Kelanny Triana
Research Assistant

Kelanny Triana is currently a Senior in the Honors College with the aspiration of becoming a future physician. She majoring in Biology and Natural and Applied Sciences with a minor in Chemistry. In the Dimitroff Lab, she will assist in in vivo experimentation exploring the role of cancer cell surface glycans and their glycan-binding partners in disease progression.  These cancer-associated glycans provide novel therapeutic targets or biomarkers of disease.   

Monalisa Bruno
Research Assistant

Monalisa Bruno is currently a senior at Florida International University majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry. After her undergrad, she plans on attending medical school with the ambition of becoming a future doctor. Her role in the Dimitroff Lab is to help conduct in vivo experimentation exploring how leukemia cell surface glycans and their glycan-binding partners promote growth and metastasis.

Basilio Garcia
Research Assistant

Basilio Garcia assists the Dimitroff Lab with the study of glycol-lectin interactions. In the near future, he plans to pursue a doctoral program in biology to further his career in research. Garcia received a Bachelors of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Florida State University in 2021.

Gabriella Santos
Research Assistant

Gabriella Santos assists in analyzing the surface glycan signature of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy to improve the efficacy for Diffuse B cell lymphoma. She is currently a junior in the Honors College at FIU majoring in biology and natural and applied sciences. Santos is also a pre-med and QBIC scholar aspiring to become a future physician.

Maria Suarez
Research Assistant

Maria Suarez is a senior majoring in biology who plans to pursue a career in the medical field. In the Dimitroff Lab, Maria will help to study the regulatory role of cell surface glycosylation on anti-tumor CAR-T cells.