Meet the researchers in the Barnes Lab and the Blanc Lab at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
Principal investigator
Laboratory of Autoimmune and Cancer Research
Studies IRF5 and the molecular regulation of immune responses, with work spanning inflammatory signaling, lupus, tumor-derived extracellular vesicles, and preclinical antitumor immunity.
Principal investigator
Laboratory of Developmental Erythropoiesis
Studies how red blood cells develop and mature, how ribosomal defects impair blood formation in Diamond-Blackfan anemia syndrome, and how inflammation changes the marrow environment.
Assistant Professor · Associate Investigator
Bharati Matta, PhD, MBA, is an Assistant Professor and Associate Investigator in the Barnes Lab at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Her research examines how interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) shapes innate and adaptive immune responses in lupus, inflammation, wound healing and cancer, including breast cancer, pediatric brain tumors and osteosarcoma. Using animal models and human clinical samples, she studies immune-cell differentiation and trafficking, with a focus on pathways that regulate antibody-secreting cells. Her work also explores early immune changes associated with IRF5 genetic risk in lupus. She co-developed and validated assays to measure neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in patient plasma and serum, supporting studies of NET burden and DNase activity in adult and pediatric lupus, including lupus nephritis. She brings expertise in multiparameter flow cytometry, functional assays and mechanistic immunology, with the aim of translating these findings into diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets.
Assistant Professor · Senior Research Scientist
Ailing Lu, PhD, is a Senior Research Scientist in the Barnes Lab and an Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. She completed her doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich and brings more than 25 years of experience in neurology and immunology. Her research examines pathways involved in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and macrophage activation syndrome, using mouse models and primary patient samples.
Elmezzi Scholar · PhD Candidate
PhD Candidate
Visiting Scholar
Arya Haditalab, BS, is a Visiting Scholar studying pediatric brain tumor immunology in the Laboratory of Autoimmune and Cancer Research. In the Clinical Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Laboratory, he investigates the cerebellum’s role in psychosis through brain imaging. He holds a BS in Biology from Stony Brook University and is a licensed New York State EMT. His research connects his interests in neuroscience and immunology.
Visiting Scholar
Adin Salim, BS, is a Visiting Scholar working in the Barnes Lab. He graduated from Brandeis University in 2026 with a BS in Chemical Biology and an additional major in Biology, and is currently applying to medical school. His work focuses on how IRF5 and neutrophil extracellular traps play a role in the development and pathogenesis of pediatric SLE.
Assistant Professor · Associate Investigator
Julien Papoin, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine. He brings over 18 years of translational hematology experience to studying various hematological disorders, notably Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) syndrome, sickle cell disease, and the effects of systemic inflammation on the bone marrow, using patient-derived models. His work focuses on disease mechanisms, treatment resistance, and therapeutic development to move discoveries from the bench to the clinic.
MD/PhD Candidate
Sebastian Leon is an MD/PhD candidate at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. In the Blanc Lab, he studies metabolism during red blood cell development, with a focus on sickle cell disease, and explores nanoscale drug delivery strategies for anemia. His current work also includes studies of creatine in blood. He earned his master’s degree in nanotechnology at the University of Central Florida and previously investigated creatine-loaded nanoparticles with support from an Association for Creatine Deficiencies research fellowship.
Research Associate
Marion Barbier is a Research Associate in the Blanc Lab, where she works on developing bone marrow organoid models to study hematopoiesis and the role of the bone marrow microenvironment in hematological diseases. She holds a master’s degree in Cancer Biology from the University of Montpellier, France. Her research interests include cancer biology and Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA), particularly the relationship between bone marrow dysfunction and cancer predisposition.