Alison's interest in scientific research began while she attended the University of North Dakota. During her undergraduate career, Alison participated in several research projects in inorganic chemistry. Upon graduation, she accepted a two-year fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, where her research focused on functional changes in several different immune cell types due to HIV infection. Under the guidance of her current mentor, Dr. Gregg Milligan, at UTMB, Alison is examining the role of CD4+ T cells in the elimination of acute herpes simplex virus from neuronal tissues. Alison in interested in identifying key components of CD4+ T cell function during HSV infection, elements that may prove important in the design of an effective vaccine against HSV.