September 22, 2023
Meet Geoff Hutchinson, who helped develop the Covid-19 vaccine!
Geoff Hutchinson, an Immunology graduate student in the Pepper lab, was recently featured on CNN for his work on developing the Covid-19 vaccine. In 2020, Geoff was working in Dr. Barney Graham’s lab at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institutes of Health when they got word of a novel coronavirus in China. Geoff……
September 15, 2023
Congratulations, Dr. Kurt Pruner!!
The Department of Immunology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Kurt Pruner, Immunology graduate student in the Pepper lab, for the successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Defining mRNA vaccine-generated T cell memory in respiratory viral infection.” Kurt’s defense took place on September 14, 2023 at 12:30 pm in Orin Smith Auditorium in Seattle, Washington and……
August 28, 2023
Congratulations, Dr. Laila Shehata!
The Department of Immunology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Laila Shehata, Immunology graduate student in the Pepper lab, for the successful defense of her dissertation entitled “IL-4 downregulates BCL6 to promote memory B cell selection in germinal centers.” Laila’s defense took place on August 24, 2023 at 10:30 am in Orin Smith Auditorium in Seattle,……
August 18, 2023
Congratulations, Kristin Weinstein, on your 2023 NSF GRF!
Kristin is a third-year graduate student in the Ziegler lab at Benaroya Research Institute. She was recently awarded the prestigious 2023 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF), which provides up to three years of fellowship support. Congratulations, Kristin!! Read more
August 14, 2023
Congratulations, Dr. Alina Lorant!
The Department of Immunology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Alina Lorant, Immunology graduate student in the Lacy-Hulbert lab, for the successful defense of her dissertation entitled “Integrin αvβ3 limits cytokine production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells and restricts TLR-driven autoimmunity.” Alina’s defense took place on August 8, 2023 at 2:00 pm in Orin Smith Auditorium in……
August 5, 2023
Congratulations, Sheenam Verma, Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow!
Sheenam is a postdoctoral scholar in the Harrison lab at Benaroya Research Institute. She earned her PhD in Structural Biology from the Regional Centre for Biotechnology in India in 2020. She was recently awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Washington Research Foundation. With support from the fellowship, Sheenam will explore how immunity to gut microbiota……
July 21, 2023
Congratulations, Dr. Tyler Billipp!
The Department of Immunology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Tyler Billipp, Immunology graduate student in the Moltke lab, for the successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Tuft cell-derived acetylcholine regulates epithelial fluid secretion and helminth clearance.” Tyler’s defense took place on July 20, 2023 at 3:00 pm in Orin Smith Auditorium in Seattle, Washington and……
July 15, 2023
Congratulations, Dr. Julian Smith!
The Department of Immunology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Julian Smith, Immunology graduate student in the Ram lab, for the successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Uncovering novel suppressors of self-nucleic acid ligands.” Julian’s defense took place on July 12, 2023 at 9:30 am in Orin Smith Auditorium in Seattle, Washington and via zoom. Congratulations,……
Congratulations, Dr. Mikel Ruterbusch!
The Department of Immunology is pleased to congratulate Dr. Mikel Ruterbusch, Immunology graduate student in the Pepper lab, for the successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Influenza-specific CD4+ Th1 memory cells in the lung can be functionally altered by allergen exposure.” Mikel’s defense took place on June 5, 2023 at 2 pm in Brotman Auditorium……
July 7, 2023
Congratulations, Nandan Gokhale, on your NIAID Pathway to Independence Award!
Nandan is a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow in Ram Savan’s lab. He earned his PhD from Duke University in 2019. He is broadly interested in how RNA regulates and is regulated by viral infection and antiviral innate immunity. He is currently investigating how RNA molecules interact with and affect the function of antiviral innate……