2020 News

JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

Kimberly Barker Successfully Defends Dissertation

We wanted to congratulate Kimberly Barker in the Mizgerd lab on the successful defense of her dissertation entitled “The Establishment and Function of Lung Resident Memory B Cells after Bacterial Respiratory Infection” on September 24, 2020. Kim is staying in the Boston area with a position at Bristol Myers Squibb in Arlington. Great job Kim, and best of luck!

Eric Brownhill Successfully Defends Dissertation

Congratulations to Eric Brownhill in the Kramnik Lab on the successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Compromised Metabolic Function and Dysregulated Induction of Type 1 Interferon Promote Susceptibility in a Model for Tuberculosis Infection” on September 8, 2020. Eric, an MD/PhD student, will now head back for his third year in medical school. Nicely done, Eric!

2020 Corwin Award

We are happy to announce that Kimberly Barker from the Mizgerd lab is the recipient of the 2020 Corwin Award. The Corwin Award was established in 1994 to recognize a Microbiology Graduate Student who displays the qualities of an outstanding departmental “citizen”, one whose exemplary scholarly and/or scientific achievement, values of collegiality and scientific integrity, and active participation in department and campus activities best epitomize the contributions of the former member of our department, Larry Corwin. I think you will all agree that Kim embodies all of these qualities and richly deserves this award.

APRIL/MAY/JUNE

Kyle Pedro Successfully Defends Dissertation

Congratulations to Kyle Pedro in the Henderson Lab on successfully defending his dissertation entitled “Cell-to-Cell Transmission and Intrinsic Factors that Influence Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection” on June 25, 2020. Nice job, Kyle!

2020 Microbiology Trainee Travel Awards

Due to public health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meetings that the award winners would have attended have been cancelled. Below is a list of Travel Award winners along with information on the meetings they would have attended.

1st place: Kimberly Barker (graduate student – Mizgerd lab) would have attended the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Immunologists in Honolulu, HI from May 8-12, 2020.

2nd place: Rebecca Johnson (postdoctoral fellow – Griffiths lab) would have attended the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Virology in Fort Collins, CO from June 13-17, 2020.

2nd place: Fumiaki Aihara (graduate student– Kepler lab) would have attended the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Immunologists in Honolulu, HI from May 8-12, 2020.

Congratulations to Kim, Becky, and Fumi!

Whitney Manhart Successfully Defends Dissertation

Congratulations to Whitney Manhart in the Mostoslavsky and Mühlberger Labs on the successful defense of her dissertation entitled “Ebola Virus Induces a Type I Interferon Response in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocytes” on May 12, 2020. Excellent job, Whitney!

2020 Russek Award Winners

We are delighted to announce the Microbiology Graduate Students who have won 2020 Russek Student Achievement Awards. Microbiology has two 1st prize winners this year! Congratulations to:

1st Prize – Both Kimberley Barker (Mizgerd Lab) and
1st Prize – Whitney Manhart (Mostoslavsky and Mühlberger Labs)
Honorable Mention – Allison Thomas (Sagar Lab)

Please note that the 26th Annual Henry I. Russek Student Achievement Day will be held virtually on two days, May 21 and 22, 2020.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH

R Baer Successfully Defends Dissertation

Congratulations to R Baer in the Galagan Lab on the successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Discovery, Characterization, and Ligand Specificity Engineering of a Novel Bacterial Transcription Factor Inducible by Progesterone” on February 27, 2020. Well done, R!