Dr. McNamara is Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, Beirne B. Carter Professor of Immunology and Director of the Carter Immunology Center at the University of Virginia. She is an experienced investigator in the area of immune cell mechanisms and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), utilizing integrated approaches of mechanistic discovery and clinical translation. Her work, identifying novel genetic and cellular factors mediating atherosclerosis in mice and humans has led to her being awarded the 2016 American Heart Association (AHA) Special Recognition Award in Arteriosclerosis and being selected to present the 2019 National AHA Russell Ross Memorial lecture in Atherosclerosis. She is highly collaborative and has served as Project PI in a longstanding (> 25 years) Program Project Grant (PPG) and as project PI in two Leducq Transatlantic Network of Excellence grants. She is passionate about interdisciplinary collaborative translational research and is one of three Principle Investigators on a Prominence to Preeminence (P2PE) Award from UVA to develop Precision ImmunoMedicine for CVD.

Complete list of publications here

I graduated from UVA with degrees in Biology and History in 2017, and joined the lab of Fran Garrett-Bakelman as a technician to get some more biomedical research experience investigating the pathology of acute myeloid leukemia. I wanted to continue a career in biomedical research, so I entered the BIMS program in 2019, and joined the McNamara lab in early 2020. I’m interested in the interface of cardiovascular disease and oncology, so researching clonal hematopoiesis in lymphocytes and its effects on atherosclerosis progression was a no brainer! With my successful advancement to candidacy, I gained a Master’s degree and now I’m on my way to becoming a “triple hoo”! I enjoy hanging out with my 3 cats, going on walks with my golden retriever, and visiting wineries with my husband in my spare time. You can check out my dog on instagram @daphnethemenace!

I am a 3rd year UVA MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Program) candidate and am fascinated by the immunological networks that underlay cardiovascular disease progression. Building on a previous MSTP student's work (Oom Pattarabanjird), I am currently studying mechanisms of atheroprotective IgM production in humans. I am an adopted Korean-American, a Cornell Alum (Go Big Red!) and budding chef/coffee enthusiast! Ask me about coffee or cooking if you wanna get into all the great details. In my free time, I love to cook, bake desserts, hang with friends, hike, bike, and hang with my cat!

I got my B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University and dove into biomedical research. I’ve worked at UVA going on 27 years - I was the lab manager of Joel Linden’s lab before coming over to the McNamara Lab as a research specialist and mouse colony manager. I became lab manager in December 2021 and have been spending my time happily running assays away from the mice. I am a mom to two wonderful children, Dalton and Lexi, and have a best friend in my husband Jerry, along with several cats and dogs which fill our household with love. Fun fact: One summer during break I worked on a dairy farm milking cows and bottle feeding the calves!

After graduating with a B.S. in Chemistry and then working in the mining industry, I knew that the best lab work is teamwork. I’m very happy to be a part of efforts advancing the study of immunology and its impact on human health. My original favorite cells were Tregs and CD8+ T-cells, but now B-cells are! My forte is flow and mass cytometry (sample prep, staining, analysis) and I am always ready to talk shop. My other treasured shop talk topics include horses, gardening, and historical clothing.

Katie joined the lab in December 2021 as a lab specialist and also manages the mouse colony. She previously worked with the Center for Comparative Medicine here at UVA and is excited to now be directly involved in research on the laboratory side. Also a licensed veterinary technician since 2005, Katie’s background and training allows her a unique perspective in directly providing the mouse colony with high quality care while assisting the lab members in reaching their research goals. Katie resides in Waynesboro with her 5 cats and enjoys being outdoors, baking, and the occasional crossword puzzle.

Charlotte Pekich is a registered nurse that has worked in clinical research since 2001. She has functioned as a CRA, Safety Specialist and CCRC in industry and academics. In addition, she was one of the original 17 nurses hired as a sales representative for the Women’s Healthcare Division of Parke-Davis.

Christine Flora graduated from UVA with a BS in Biology and a BA in Psychology in 2022. She is a clinical research coordinator who specializes in recruiting and gaining consent from patients to enroll them in studies through the Carter Immunology Center. She also has training in processing blood samples to study cellular and fluid components in support of research applications.

I am interested in exploring the relationship between Id3 and chemokines secreted by mouse vascular smooth muscle cells, and their role in B cell recruitment in atherosclerosis development. Outside the lab, I play two instruments - violin and pipa (an Eastern traditional instrument).