Vaccinology Track Students

All Degrees & Certificates
Master of Medical Science
Human Pathophysiology & Translational Medicine PhD
Scholarly Concentration in Translational Research
Vaccinology Track

Current Students

Graduate Program: Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine
Mentor: Dr. Vineet Menachery

Elias Alvarado graduated from UT Permian Basin (UTPB) and received his Bachelor of Science with a focus in Molecular Biology. While at UTPB, Elias participated in undergraduate and international research opportunities through the Louis Stoke Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. After graduation, he joined UTMB as a PREP scholar developing novel peptide-based melanoma vaccines in the department of pharmacology/toxicology and surgery. Upon completing his post-Baccalaureate, he worked for several years as a research associate at UTMB and Baylor College of Medicine in the fields of immunology, vaccinology, virology, and public health. Elias is now a member of Dr. Vineet Meanchey’s lab where his work will focus on understanding the immunological correlates of protection during SARS-CoV-2 infection and post CoV-2 vaccination. His research interests include vaccinology, immunology, virology, and public health and seeks a career in academia to teach as a full professor at a college or research institute. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, creating art (drawing/painting) and playing card/board games with friends.

Awards/Scholarships:

2021-Present - Community Liaison, Society for Translational Research

2021-Present - Social Media Chair, Women's Association of Minority Scientists

Nicole Bender

Graduate Program: Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine
Mentor: Dr. Robert Abbott

Nicole graduated summa cum laude from University of Florida in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. During her time at University of Florida she worked in a laboratory on several projects to develop a transmission blocking vaccine for malaria. Nicole joined HPTM as a Presidential Scholar with research interests in vaccinology, immunology, and infectious diseases. In her free time, she enjoys fostering dogs and enjoying nature.

Awards/Scholarships:
2021-Present – Presidential Scholar’s Award, UTMB

Matthew Bristerpostma

Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology

Matthew completed his undergraduate studies at Tarleton State University in 2021 with a degree in molecular biology. He began studying at UTMB the same year, as part of the experimental pathology 2021-2022 cohort. He is interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying neuropathologies. Namely, he wants to uncover the causes of protein expression dysfunction leading to synuclein and tauopathies. Recently, Matthew rotated through several labs at UTMB and has developed an interest in the role of neurological innate immunity in compensating for underlying protein expression dysfunctions.

S. Gabrielle Cody

S. Gabrielle Cody grew up in a far suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, and was first exposed to infectious disease research on a field trip to the CDC in eighth grade. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in May of 2020 and promptly moved 4,500 miles to Honolulu during the pandemic for her master's degree. At the University of Hawaii, she worked initially on flavivirus diagnostics and then transitioned to systematically reviewing the female-specific pathologies of the Schistosoma haematobium parasite. Gabrielle joined the HPTM program in 2022 and is looking forward to establishing herself in a lab. She is interested in vaccinology and high-containment research. Outside of school, Gabrielle knits extensively and enjoys her time with her husband and their two cats.

Awards/Scholarships:

2022- David and Janet Niesel Presidential Scholarship Award, UTMB

Casey Gonzales

Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology

Mentor: Dr. Lynn Soong

Casey Gonzales received her BS in biology from Maryville University in 2020, during which she gained some research experience through internships at plant biotechnology companies. Casey joined the Experimental Pathology Graduate Program at UTMB in the fall of 2020. Under the mentorship of Dr. Lynn Soong, her research focuses on the humoral responses elicited by Orientia tsutsugamushi infection. Specifically, she studies deficient germinal center responses in mouse models of scrub typhus to better understand why this disease fails to stimulate good B cell activation and long-term protection. During her training in the Soong lab, Casey has participated in BSL-3 training, learned several approaches to assess humoral immunity/B-cell responses, including flow cytometry, direct/indirect ELISA, qRT-PCR, and immunofluorescent staining. She plans to pursue her interest in vaccinology in the future with a career in industry or government. In her free time, Casey enjoys traveling and spending time with her friends and two cats.

Awards/Scholarships:

2020- Janet and David Niesel Scholarship, GSBS-UTMB

Madison Gray

Madison Gray graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry. Madison has spent the past two years investigating small molecule therapeutics for the Chikungunya virus. In her undergraduate, she utilized bioinformatic and novel toxicology methods to determine treatment efficiency. Madison has presented this methodology at seven conferences on state, national, to international levels. After graduation, she joined UTMB’s HTPM program to continue her research in investing in treatment options for highly pathogenic viruses.

Whenever she could she would spend all day watching Kdramas, cooking, and dancing.

Eldridge Hager

Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology
Mentor: Dr. Shannan Rossi
Co-Mentor: Dr. Alexander Freiberg

Eldridge Hager is a Costa-Rican American from southwest Virginia and received his B.S. in Microbiology from Virginia Tech in the Spring of 2021. There, he worked under the mentorship of Dr. Amy Pruden characterizing antibiotic-resistance genes as contaminants of wastewater using IonTorrent and Illumina next-generation sequencing. During his undergraduate education, he volunteered with the local Wildlife Disease Association chapter in education and outreach as well as several collaborations at Virginia Tech. He joined UTMB's Experimental Pathology graduate program in the Fall of 2019. Eldridge is mentored by Dr. Shannan Rossi and Dr. Alexander Freiberg and researches long-term Ebola virus infection of the male genital tract.

Clairissa Hansen

Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology

Mentor: Dr. Alan Barrett

Clairissa is a PhD student in the Experimental Pathology program and is also working towards a master's of public health. She hopes to be able to integrate her knowledge from the molecular aspects of infectious disease all the way up to larger aspects of public health. She currently working in a yellow fever lab with the guidance of Dr. Alan Barrett.

Clairissa got her BSc in Microbiology at Miami University (Ohio). While she finds academic research fascinating, she sees herself moving towards a more community-oriented career. She joined the vaccinology track because the study of vaccines is at the perfect intersection of health sciences and public health.

She is currently on the science communications team with Enventure (a not for profit organization led by students and entrepreneurs who are passionate about the growth of Texas' medical innovation industry), part of the Texas Network for Blackstone Launchpad, and serves as the Executive President of the UTMB Student Government Association. In her free time, she plays saxophone with the Galveston Community Band, brews small-batch beer, and swims.

Awards/Scholarships:

2020 - The Edward S. Reynolds, Jr., M.D. Experimental Pathology Graduate Scholarship

2018 - Present - Presidential Scholar’s Award, UTMB

Emily Hendrix

Graduate Program: Microbiology & Immunology

Mentor: Dr. Ashok Chopra

Emily Hendrix received a Bachelor of Science degree in biotechnology and chemistry from Eastern Washington University in 2016. In 2018, she gained a Master of Science degree in biology and infectious disease at EWU, focusing on metabolomic profiling of host species infected with a novel pathogen to elucidate pathways contributing to pathogen success. She accepted a position as a laboratory technician with Dr. Chopra in 2020, where she studied Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Emily joined the Microbiology and Immunology PhD program in the fall of 2021 under the mentorship of Dr. Chopra. She continues to study COVID-19 vaccine candidates and is also studying vaccine candidates for Yersinia pestis in a BSL-3 setting. Emily plans to pursue vaccine development of Tier 1 pathogens for biodefense research. In her free time, she enjoys hiking with her dog, drawing, and photography.

Awards/Scholarships:

2022 – Fellowship, Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences

Eduardo T. Jurado-Cobena

Graduate Program: Microbiology & Immunology

Mentor: Dr. Tetsuro Ikegami

Eduardo T. Jurado-Cobena holds a D.V.M. from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, Agrarian University of Ecuador (2005), he specialized in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering (2005) and completed his master’s degree in biotechnology (Biotechnology program of the University of Guayaquil, 2014). He has served as Professor of Basic Biochemistry and Veterinary Toxicology (2017) at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Agrarian University of Ecuador. He also was a researcher at the National Institute for Public Health Research, Guayaquil, Ecuador (2014-2017). Before becoming a graduate student at UTMB, he served as volunteer Researcher in the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, USA. (2019-2020). Currently Eduardo holds a position as Graduate Assistant in the Microbiology & Immunology department at UTMB. Eduardo has participated as invited speaker into several scientific events, as well as has published scientific articles in Spanish language. The research interests of Eduardo are based on molecular diagnosis of bacteria and viruses, including Arboviruses, as well as vaccines and public health. His current work is focused on RNA viruses’ reverse genetics and molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity.

Awards/Scholarships:

2020 - The Satish Srivastava Endowed Scholarship

Kirsten Littlefield

Graduate Program: Microbiology and Immunology
Mentor: Dr. Lynn Soong

Kirsten Littlefield graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 2018 with a bachelor’s of science in Biology. Following graduation, she interned with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife where she developed an appreciation for field work and strengthened her interest in emerging zoonotic viruses. Kirsten continued to pursue this interest by completing a master’s of science in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2021. There, her thesis work in the lab of Dr. Andrew Pekosz evaluated the zoonotic potential of non-human influenza D virus. However, in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, she also conducted research on the ability of natural or vaccine-induced COVID-19 convalescent plasma to neutralize variant SARS-CoV-2 in biosafety level-3 conditions. Kirsten joined in the Microbiology and Immunology department at UTMB in hopes of continuing to conduct research on emerging viruses requiring high containment.

Awards/Scholarships:

2021-Present – Presidential Scholar’s Award, UTMB

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Justine Ortega-Méndez

Graduate Program: Pharmacology and Toxicology

Mentor: Dr. Alejandro Castellanos

Justine obtained her Bachelor in Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering in the end of 2019 at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (Mexico). During her undergraduate studies she did an internship at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she joined the Functional Nanomaterials Lab under the guidance of Dr. Kelly Nash. There she worked in the synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) for cancer applications

In 2020 she was awarded with a scholarship from the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) of the Mexican Government, with which she was able to fulfill her of studying abroad and join the PHTO graduate program at UTMB. She is part of the Castellanos Lab, in which she learned about the application of small interfering RNA (siRNA) as a proposed treatment against Cryptosporidiois. Along her mentor, she is currently working in her dissertation proposal with entails the use of a nutraceutical as an alternative treatment for Cryptosporidiois.

Besides being interested in research regarding infectious diseases, she’s also passionate about neuropsychiatric disorders. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking and doing yoga.

Awards/Scholarships:
2020-2025 ConTex Scholarship (Joint scholarship from CONACyt and the University of Texas System).

Sunil Palani, MS

Graduate Program: Microbiology and Immunology
Mentor: Dr. Keer Sun

Sunil graduated from M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, India, in 2014 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology. Following graduation, he moved to the US. He pursued a Master of Science in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. For his MS thesis, he studied the role of the GRβ/AKT axis in B-1 cells in response to dexamethasone. Shortly after graduation, he moved to Boston and briefly worked for a biotech company before moving to Takeda Vaccines Inc. At Takeda, he worked on the Dengue vaccine candidate, TAK003. He performed an RVP-based serotype-specific neutralization assay for sera samples from the Phase II clinical trial to determine the TAK003’s serum potency, antibody titer, and efficacy. Sunil started his Ph.D. in 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Keer Sun. For his Ph.D. thesis, he is studying the role of Alveolar macrophages in pulmonary infections. He is passionate about Immunology, Virology, and Global public health. Biweekly, he teaches English and soft skills to youths from lower-income families for a non-profit organization, FEA, based in India. Outside lab, he enjoys cooking, dancing, and spending time with family and friends.

Awards/Scholarships:
2021- McLaughlin Colloquium Travel Award

Declan Pigeaud

Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology

Declan Pigeaud received his B.S. in Biomedical Science with a concentration in Medical Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire in the Spring of 2021. Prior to pursuing graduate education, he worked at various companies in the biotech industry in the areas of analytical development and downstream processing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Declan worked at the University of New Hampshire’s high-throughput COVID-19 testing lab. He joined the Experimental Pathology Graduate Program at UTMB in the Fall of 2021. His research interests are in viral pathogenesis and novel vaccine platforms for agents that cause viral hemorrhagic fever. He plans to pursue a career in academia or government. Outside of the lab, Declan enjoys trail running, cycling, and cooking.

Layne Pruitt

Graduate Program: Microbiology & Immunology

Layne graduated from the University of Houston-Downtown in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. His research during undergraduate and after revolved around finding potential targets for vaccines in either Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes. He joined UTMB’s Microbiology and Immunology program in hopes to deepen my understanding and continue searching for ways to improve our current vaccine pool. He would like to help in protecting our community from diseases as well as further elucidate the basic biology surrounding the host immune response to vaccine and how that can be modulated to improve recall and memory.

Alumni

Megan Files

Graduate Program: Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine
Mentor: Dr. Janice Endsley

Megan graduated from Texas A & M University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology. After graduating she took a position as a research assistant in the Tuberculosis Drug Discovery Program at the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle, Washington where she worked to identify new drug targets and lead drug candidates to treat Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She continued her work in drug development at Kineta, Inc. in Seattle, investigating new antivirals against Dengue Fever Virus and Zika Virus, and led pre-IND studies of a new drug candidate to treat Lassa Fever. Her research interests include vaccinology, immunology, and infectious disease. Her current mentors are Dr. Janice Endsley and Dr. Jai Rudra. Together they are researching vaccine development for the prevention of tuberculosis infection and the immunology of protection.

Awards/Scholarships:

2020 - Robert Shope Endowed Scholarship

2020 - Human Pathophysiology & Translational Medicine Travel Award

2020 - Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

2019 - Harold T. Saunders Endowed Fellowship in Vaccine Development

2019 - TB Keystone Symposia Future of Science Fund Scholarship

2019 - American Association of Immunologists Trainee Abstract Travel Award

2019 - Finalist for Maurice Hilleman Early Stage Investigator Award, Annual Conference on Vaccine Research

Corri Levine

Graduate Program: Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine

Mentor: Dr. Thomas Geisbert

Co-Mentor: Dr. Susan McLellan

Corri Levine received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University majoring in Animal Sciences. After working for several years as a technician in the fields of neuroscience and veterinary oncology, she returned to Cornell University to pursue a Master’s degree in the field of Veterinary Medicine focusing on natural remedies for canine cancer. With her husband and two exotic parrots, she decided to make the cross-country move from upstate New York to the gulf coast of Texas to join the HPTM program at UTMB. Corri is pursuing a Ph.D. in virology, specifically zoonotic diseases, in the lab of Dr. Tom Geisbert. Her research focuses on understanding the viral and clinical variations between ebolavirus species and elucidating potential therapies for combating Ebola virus disease. In addition, Corri has worked with her clinical co-mentor Dr. Susan McLellan in establishing an infectious disease clinical biorepository and assisting with inpatient COVID-19 clinical research protocols. Corri has recently completed her MPH at UTMB and is an active volunteer with the Galveston County Medical Reserve Corps.

Awards/Scholarships:

2021 – GSBS Award for Excellence in COVID Research

2020 - Robert Shope Endowed Scholarship

2020 – Don W. Micks Scholarship in Preventive Medicine and Community Health

2020 – HPTM Alumni Translational Scholars Travel Award

2019 - Robert Shope Endowed Scholarship

2018 – Marianne Blum, Ph.D. Endowed Presidential Scholarship

2017 – Arthur and Dorothy Barrett Scholarship

Megan Mears

Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology

Mentor: Dr. Dennis Bente

Megan is interested in tick-host-pathogen interactions, and her research is focused on different vaccine development strategies for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV) and its tick vector. Megan earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree from Georgia Southern University in 2017, where her research focused on intracellular bacteria. Outside of the lab, Megan prefers to spend her time traveling, hiking, kayaking, and hanging out with her dog.

Awards/Scholarships:

2020 - Present - Fellowship, Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences

2020 - Scholarship, “Achieving Data Quality and Integrity in Maximum Containment Laboratories”, UTMB Institutional Office of Regulated Non-clinical Studies

2019 - UTMB Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences Travel Award

2019 - Poster Award, 8th Annual UTMB Global Health Education Symposium

2019 - Poster Award, Pathology Trainee Research Day

2018 - UTMB Institute for Human Infections and Immunity Travel Award

2017 - Present - UTMB McLaughlin Scholarship Award

2016 - American Society for Microbiology Student and Postdoctoral Travel Award

2016 - Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology Student and Postdoctoral Travel Award