Principal Investigator

Matthew Marsden, Ph.D. (He/Him)

Principal Investigator
mdmarsde@hs.uci.edu

Associate Director, Center for Virus Research

Associate Professor with Tenure, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Department of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases) 

B.S., University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, Medical Microbiology
Ph.D., University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, Molecular Virology

Dr. Marsden’s undergraduate Bsc (Hons) degree in Medical Microbiology and Ph.D. in Molecular Virology were both obtained at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK. From there, he moved to UCLA as a postdoctoral scholar and subsequently became a junior faculty member in the UCLA Department of Medicine. During this time, he developed a research program that utilizes a range of model systems (including humanized mice) to study HIV latency and advanced new HIV cure approaches. Dr. Marsden established his research laboratory at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine in 2020.

Postdocs

Thomas Zaikos, M.D., Ph.D. (He/Him)

Postdoctoral Scholar
tzaikos@hs.uci.edu

Thomas obtained his undergraduate degree (B.S.) from St. Bonaventure University, followed by his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in the laboratory of Kathleen Collins where his thesis focused on the characterization and elimination of the HIV reservoir. He then earned his M.D. from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science where he continued to work on HIV latency-reversing agents. Following medical school, Thomas completed his combined Anatomic Pathology-Neuropathology residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins University where his research focused on HIV-associated neurodegenerative pathology. Thomas joined the Marsden lab in the summer of 2024. Outside of the lab, Thomas enjoys exploring Southern California with his wife, watching and playing soccer, golf, and finding great cafes and wine bars.

Graduate Students 

José Moran (He/They)

PhD Candidate

José earned his Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology with a minor in Chemistry at Cal Poly Pomona in 2020. At CPP, he conducted research in Dr. Yuanxiang Zhao’s lab studying adipogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells and was an NIH RISE (Intensive) Scholar in Dr. Frances Mercer’s lab studying the interaction between Trichomonas vaginalis, a sexually transmitted parasite, and neutrophils. 

Tessa Chou (She/Her)

PhD Student

Tessa graduated from UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies with a B.A. in Biology and minors in Applied Psychology and Anthropology. At UCSB, she was a UC LEADS scholar in Dr. Carolina Arias’ lab studying HSV-1 infection in retinal organoids and furin cleavage during SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity.

Following graduation, she entered UCI’s Cellular and Molecular Biosciences program in the fall as an ASM Future Leaders Mentoring Fellow and Summer Research Program Participant Fellow. In 2023, she joined the Marsden lab to pursue her PhD. Outside of the lab, Tessa enjoys drawing, writing, and dancing, but is most often found sleeping.

Nishad Maggirwar (He/Him)

PhD Student

Nishad is originally from Clifton, Virginia, and is currently a second year PhD student in the Marsden Lab. Nishad completed his B.S. in microbiology at the University of California, San Diego in 2020, where he worked on HIV persistence in various human tissues.

Upon completion of his B.S., Nishad moved to Baltimore, Maryland to complete an IRTA Fellowship at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). At NIDA, Nishad worked on HIV neuropathogenesis in transgenic rat models. In his spare time, Nishad loves to powerlift, and has an unhealthy obsession with anything gym/lifting related. Additionally, Nishad is an avid coffee enthusiast, and will almost never turn down a cup of coffee.

Specialists

Caroline Forster (She/Her)

Junior Specialist

Caroline grew up in Trumbull, CT (a suburb of NYC) before graduating from Duke University with a dual degree in Biology and Computer Science and a minor in Computational Biology & Bioinformatics. In June 2024, she packed up her many houseplants and drove across the country to join the Marsden Lab.

Caroline enjoys reading, writing, painting, and trying new makeup looks. She can often be found jamming out to Pink Floyd, watching stand-up comedy on YouTube, or playing PC games (MMORPGs and Fortnite).

Paul Sun (He/Him)

Junior Specialist

Paul grew up in Mississippi, but after moving around for a few years, settled in California, where he would obtain a B.S. At UC Irvine, and a Masters Degree in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology at UC Riverside. He started as an Assistant Specialist in Marden lab in January 2025. Paul prefers playing video games in his off time and occasionally writing stories. 

Undergraduates

Shireen Turner (She/Her)

Bio 199 Student

Shireen has been part of the Marsden lab since her freshmen year in 2021. She has co-authored a review paper titled “Contribution of Sex Differences to HIV Immunology, Pathogenesis, and Cure Approaches” which was published in the Frontiers in Immunology Journal. 

Based on an independent project, she authored a paper published in UCI’s Journal of Undergraduate Research in Biological Sciences. She has also presented a poster for this project as part of the Excellence in Research Program. In the future, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Neurobiology or Microbiology and work as a principal researcher at a Biotechnology company. For fun, Shireen enjoys playing the piano and viola, hanging out with friends, and bothering the graduate students in lab.

Alumni

MD Student, Loma Linda University