2018 News
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
Kimberly Barker and Matthew Gagne Receive Evans Day Awards
We are please to announce that the following Microbiology students received Evans Day Awards for the Basic Science Poster Session:
2nd place prize – Kimberly Barker (Mizgerd Lab) for her poster entitled “Lung Resident B Cells Contribute to Heterotypic Immunity to Pneumococcus”
3rd place prize – Matthew Gagne (Henderson Lab) for his poster entitled “T Cell Activation State Determines Initial HIV Expression and Reactivation from Latency”
Congratulations to Kimberly and Matthew!!
Alex Barron Receives AAI Careers in Immunology Fellowship
Congratulations to Alex Barron in the Browning Lab who was awarded an American Association of Immunologists Careers in Immunology Fellowship. This award was for Alex’s project on how “fibroblast activation foretells leukocyte infiltration and autoimmune attack on non-lymphoid organs.” Well done, Alex!
APRIL/MAY/JUNE
Sila Ataca Successfully Defends Dissertation
Congratulations to Sila Ataca in the lab of Thomas Kepler on the successful defense of her dissertation entitled, “Biophysical Characterization of Affinity Maturation in the Human Response to Anthrax Vaccine” on April 25, 2018. Nice work, Sila!
Tessa Cressey Receives ASV Travel Award
Congratulations to Tessa Cressey in the Fearns and Mühlberger Labs on receiving a student travel award from The American Society of Virology. Tessa will use this award to attend the ASV Meeting at the University of Maryland in July.
Kimberly Barker Receives F31 Fellowship Award
Congratulations to Kimberly Barker in the Mizgerd Lab who was just awarded an F31 Predoctoral Fellowship Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH for her work on Lung Memory B Cell Contributions to Heterotypic Anti-Pneumococcal Immunty. Nice work, Kim!
2018 Russek Award Winners
We are delighted to announce the Microbiology Graduate Students who have won 2018 Russek Student Achievement Awards. Congratulations to:
1st Prize – Stephanie Pavlovich (Kepler Lab)
2nd Prize – Matthew Gagne (Henderson Lab)
Honorable Mention – Alexander Barron (Browning Lab)
Please note that the 24th Annual Henry I. Russek Student Achievement Day will be held on Thursday, May 10, 2018.
Stephanie Pavlovich Successfully Defends Dissertation
Congratulations to Stephanie Pavlovich in the lab of Thomas Kepler on the successful defense of her dissertation entitled, “Genomic Analysis and Examination of Innate Antiviral Immunity in the Egyptian Rousette Bat” on April 5, 2018. Well done, Stephanie!
Ian Francis Successfully Defends Dissertation
Congratulations to Ian Francis in the lab of Lee Wetzler on the successful defense of his dissertation entitled, “The Characterization of Novel Transgenic Murine Models of Neisseria Gonorrhoeae Infection and Development of a Natural Outer Membrane Vesicle Anti-Gonococcal Vaccine Candidate” on April 3, 2018. Good job, Ian!
2018 Microbiology Trainee Travel Award Winners
We are pleased to announce the 2018 Microbiology Trainee Award recipients, one first place and two second place winners, and they are:
1st place: Tessa Cressey (graduate student – Fearns and Mühlberger labs) will be attending the American Society for Virology 2018 Annual Meeting at the University of Maryland from July 14-18, 2018.
2nd place: Jaileene Hernandez Escalante (graduate student – Dooms lab) will be attending the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2018 Meeting in San Francisco, CA from June 20-23, 2018.
2nd place: Rachel Yuen (graduate student– Wetzler lab) will be attending the TOLL Meeting in Porto, Portugal from June 6-9, 2018.
Congratulations to Tessa, Jaileene, and Rachel!
JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH
Emily Speranza Featured in BU Today
Emily Speranza, a former bioinformatics student in the Connor Lab, was featured in BU Today for her work done while in the lab on early immune responses in Ebola.
Michelle Fleury Successfully Defends Dissertation
Congratulations also to Michelle Fleury in the lab of Hans Dooms on the successful defense of her dissertation entitled, “Expression and Function of Co-Inhibitory Receptors PD-1, TIGIT, TIM-3, and LAG-3 in Systemic Sclerosis” on February 20, 2018. Good job, Michelle!
Ludy Registre Successfully Defends Dissertation
Congratulations to Ludy Registre in Manish Sagar’s lab on the successful defense of her dissertation entitled, “Examination of the Role of Envelope Directed Antibodies on Co-Receptor Usage in HIV-1B Infection” on February 16, 2018. Nice work, Ludy!