Our Team

Nicole Gilbert came to St. Louis after graduating from Concordia University, NE in 2005 to study fungal cell wall biology and pathogenesis in the lab of Jenny Lodge at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. One PhD (and two kids) later, she moved down the road to Wash U, and switched to women’s infectious disease research. Following her postdoc (and one more kid) in the lab of Amanda Lewis developing mouse models to study bacterial vaginosis, she completed a K01 Career Development Award examining the effects of Gardnerella on the urinary tract under the mentorship of Amanda Lewis and David Hunstad. She joined the Department of Pediatrics in 2020 and started her lab in 2024. Her research uses in vivo and in vitros model systems in parallel with analyses of clinical specimens to specify the mechanisms underlying known associations between certain vaginal microbiome states and infectious disease such as UTI and HPV-associated cancer, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. She enjoys playing games, watching movies (preferably from the ‘90s and 00’s), hiking with her husband, Joel and her kids. She also likes reading and going to concerts.

Lokesh Kumar earned his PhD from the Division of Endocrinology at the CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, India, where he investigated the biochemical and metabolic changes in sperm during pre-ejaculation and post-ejaculation. After his post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), studying post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression during male germ cell development, he worked as a research scientist at Genus ABS Global in Wisconsin where he contributed to advancements in semen sexing and cryopreservation technologies. After years studying male fertility, Lokesh decided it was time to learn something new and made the switch to women’s health research. His current project focuses on the association between the vaginal microbiome, particularly Gardnerella, and urinary tract infections using mouse models and analyses of clinical specimens from women.

Debbie Verges has a BA in Biology from McKendree University and MS in environmental studies from SIU-Edwardsville. She has held a variety of positions including forensic scientist, environmental analyst/chemist, program manager for a local health department and environmental program analyst for the state of Missouri. She has also worked as and is currently working as a technician at the School of Medicine. She spends her free time with her three dogs Eddie, Charlie and Jemma.

Sonia Whang completed her PhD in biochemistry at Loma Linda University in 2023, where she conducted research on HPV tumors by testing E6 small molecule inhibitors in a xenograft model. Sonia brought her viral and mouse model expertise to her current research project focusing on HPV and its association with BV as well as the reproductive microbiome in the development of cervical cancer. She is also expanding her skillset to include computational analyses by contributing to a collaboration with Evvy examining the relationship between Gardnerella, BV and UTI in women. In her spare time, she loves traveling, snowboarding during the winter season and trying new food places.