Meet the Lab!
Prospective Students: If you are interested in joining our lab, please read through the projects on our website as well as our recent publications, and then, send me an email with your CV, past research experience, and how your current research interests align with the lab. I can accept Ph.D. students through the Anthropology Department at Northwestern University.
Faculty & Staff
Dr. Katie Amato, Lab Director
Dr. Katie Amato is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern.
See the bio page for more information on Katie’s academic trajectory and research.
Dr. Maria Luisa Savo Sardaro, Research Associate
Maria Luisa is interested in studies related to the influence of fermented and non-fermented foods on gut microbiota composition and evolution with the correlation to human health outcomes. After her Ph.D. in Genetics from Tuscia University (Italy), Maria Luisa started her Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Parma University. She worked on the development of molecular biology and microbiological techniques for pathogens and fermentative bacteria identification to promote the diffusion of fermented products with probiotics and prebiotics properties. Meanwhile, she is also an assistant professor at San Raffaele University in Rome. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the art of sourdough fermentation.
Post-Docs and Graduate Students
Sharmi Sen, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Sharmi is broadly interested in how the social environment shapes life history events, reproductive strategies, and nutritional phenotypes in wild animals.
In the Amato lab, Sharmi will be investigating the nutritional phenotypes of wild primate species spread across different habitats, taking a systems biology approach to develop a unified model for primate nutrition. She is also leading several projects focusing on the gut-brain axis of non-human primates using metagenomic data.
Sharmi is passionate about fieldwork, mentorship, open science, and increasing diversity and inclusivity in academia. She is also a member of the Animal Behavior Collective that aims to support undergraduate students in Animal Behavior research globally.
To find out more about her work, you can visit
Sharmi’s website, email sharmi.sen@northwestern.edu, or connect with her on bluesky.
Anthony Pulvino, Ph.D. Candidate
I hold an M.Sc in Biology from the University of Oregon. I’m interested in how different primate species’ intestinal microbiomes direct host phenotypic outcomes to mediate health and disease. My background is in bioinformatics and genomics, and although the microbiome is a key focus of my work now, I have much experience working with host-side, genomic-scale datasets, as well as metabolomics datasets. Current projects focus on the analysis and integration of these datasets to understand phenotypic differences between experimental hosts receiving pooled primate fecal innocula.
You can reach me Anthony via email anthony.pulvino@northwestern.edu
Jordan Lucore, Graduate Student Affiliate
Jordan is a PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology in the University of Michigan where she is advised by Dr. Andrew Marshall. Jordan has been an affiliate of the Amato lab since 2021.
Jordan is interested in how environmental exposures predict physiological variation and how we can use this information to understand the evolution of complex physiological systems. Currently, she is working on her dissertation project investigating how ambient temperature predicts gut-immune axis function in wild white faced capuchin monkeys.
Tennyson Dall, Graduate Student
Tennyson joined the lab in Fall 2024. She is currently a graduate student in the department of Anthropology. Her dissertation research focuses on working with indigenous communities in Alaska to understand the role of the gut microbiome and traditional foods in the health of Alaskan Native people. Her hobbies include gardening, baking, and playing lots of odd boardgames!
Fegor Imieye, Graduate Student
Faye joined the lab in Fall 2025 and is in the MPH/PhD Medical Anthropology program. Her work bridges public health and medical anthropology. She is interested in how structural inequalities, migration-related stress, and chronic social adversity become embodied and shape maternal and child health outcomes amongst Black women in the diaspora. She will be using the gut microbiome and other bio-social markers as tools to trace these lived experiences, how they’re felt, carried, and sometimes resisted, and re-imagine healthier futures grounded in care, equity, and cultural strength. When not working in the lab, Faye enjoys reading, event planning, thrill seeking adventures, and island hopping .
Undergraduate Students
Zoey Hall, Northwestern University
Zoey joined the lab in 2023 and is interested in the interplay between social determinants and biological outcomes, especially how the gut microbiome mediates the impact of socioeconomic conditions. She completed her senior thesis on the effect of microbial exposure and socioeconomic status on gut microbiome diversity throughout childhood in Cebu, Philippines.
She graduated in 2025 majoring in Biological Anthropology and Global Health with a Minor in General Music from Northwestern. In her spare time, Zoey likes reading on the lake and saying “hi” to every dog that she comes across.
Annie Chiu, Northwestern University
Annie joined the lab in 2022 and did her undergraduate honors thesis with Katie. She majored in Biology and Biological Anthroplogy and is also a recent graduate. Annie is interested in immunology, the gut microbiome, and community based research. She is currently working as a research assistant in the McDade Lab, and continuing on projects in the Amato Lab comparing human and nonhuman primates’ gut microbiomes to their immune system. Annie loves scrapbooking in her spare time.
Leah Jang, Northwestern University
Leah joined the lab in 2024 and is on the pre-veterinary track. She is conducting her honors thesis project on the gut microbiome of black and gold howler monkeys from Argentina. Leah likes to dance, read, and listen to music in her free time.
William Quinn, Loyola University
Will is an undergraduate student affiliated with the School of Environmental Sustainability and Environmental Policy at Loyola College. Currently, he is investigating bile acid metabolite pathways in collaboration with Anthony Pulvino at the Amato lab, with a focus on host–microbe interactions. His work includes comparative analysis of gut microbiomes in orphaned captive versus wild savannah elephants, and he will soon be studying the effects of dietary transition on stress physiology and gut microbial dynamics in two male pumas at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
Emma Christopher, Loyola University
Emma is a senior at Loyola University Chicago studying conservation biology. Her current research interest include ecotoxicology, primate behavior, and anthropogenic disturbances to wildlife. Emma joined the lab in 2025. She is currently working on behavioral data processing with Sharmi Sen and bioinformatics with Anthony Pulvino. I n her free time, Emma enjoys hiking, reading, playing ecologies, and generally being outside with friends and family.
Ella Walsh, Northwestern University
Ella joined the lab in Fall 2025 and is currently pursuing her major in Biological Anthropology. She has explored wet-lab research in a variety of fields including analytical chemistry and medicine. In the Amato lab, she is currently assisting in DNA extractions from non-human primate samples.
Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Ella loves being outdoors: going on long walks, playing golf with her dad, hiking, and traveling with her family . Now, she also enjoys exploring her new home in Evanston and meeting so many new people!
Helen Qiu, Northwestern University
Helen is pursuing a Bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences and Data Science at Northwestern University. She is generally interested in research pertaining to wildlife conservation, especially with land mammals like big cats. At the Amato lab, Helen is primarily assisting in sample preparation in the lab for microbiome analysis.