Simon Lab Spotlight! Brian Monahan

Brian Monahan, Associate Researcher, from Wantagh, Long Island 
M.S. in Public Health and Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst 

Q. Cats or Dogs or Other? 
A. I would say dogs. 

Q. What sparked your interest in virology research or led you to join the Simon and Mulder Lab? 
A. Growing up on Long Island, my school had very good access to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. I had a trip for a high school Biology class and working in that lab doing different experiments is what sparked my interest in microbiology. Viruses came later in my undergraduate program! 

Q. What is the most interesting part of your job? 
A. The people I work with. Everyone has a different outlook on solutions to problems! It allows you to expand what you know and adapt better to different situations. 

Q. What is your favorite spot in all of New York? 
A. The Bronx Zoo, my family was very big on conservation and wildlife biology, so the zoo was somewhere we went often. We have gone on trips just to visit zoos! I've spent many days at the zoo, and it remains one of my favorite places in the city. 

Q. How did the Pandemic impact your position on research and virology? 
A. The pandemic impacted my position on virology a ton. I originally pursued my master's degree to study infectious disease epidemiology but conducted my final thesis research in women's health and autoimmunity. The pandemic was my way back to virology thanks to Dr. Simon. 

Q. What does a day in the lab look like? 
A. Well because I split my time between both the Simon and Krammer labs, I’ll sometimes do experiments in the Krammer lab including ELISA's or genetic sequencing. If I’m not doing that, I’m coding models here in the Personalized Virology Initiative (PVI), helping organize and clean our database, or prepping requests for collaborators. So, my day is often very hectic and crazy.  

Q. Aside from being a great Associate Researcher, what would you describe as your personal superpower? 
A. I would say that I am very good with technology. If you have ever seen the movie “Sky High” the villain’s superpower is what I imagine it like. It comes in pretty handy, especially since I do a lot of coding. 

Q. If you could share one piece of advice with people interested in research, what would it be? 
A. Branch out and take risks on different interests and don't be afraid to try new things. Throughout my brief career so far, I have branched out to so many different fields of study: biochemistry, virology, both chronic disease and infectious disease epidemiology. Each step gets you closer to finding what you want and who you are in research. So never be afraid to take on new challenges and don’t be afraid to shake it up!

Thank you Brian for sharing your story and also Aidan Vera for helping with the Spotlight Series!