University: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Hometown: Hillsborough, NC
NIH Research Project:
The Effects of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection on Dendritic Cell Maturation by Toll-like Receptor Agonists
Mentor: Barney S. Graham, M.D., Ph.D.
Clinical Trials Core Laboratory & Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
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As a child, I witnessed many family members become ill with various diseases, and I began to ask why. Why was it that doctors couldn't just operate on my grandfather's throat and make him well again? Why was it that my aunt couldn't just take a magic pill that would make her diabetes go away?
These questions led me to participate in various fundraisers, walks, and symposiums to raise money for health-related research, but I didn't become aware of the importance of such research until I began conducting research as a high school student in North Carolina Project SEED at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
I am now a junior and Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and a National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholar. This summer, under the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Barney Graham, I am working at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory. My experiments entail examining the pathogenesis of respiratory syncytial virus and its affects on human dendritic cells.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a viral disease of the lungs, and many of its infection mechanisms remain unanswered. The goal of the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory and the NIH Vaccine Research Center interests me because I am a strong believer that "prevention is the best way to a cure" for many of the diseases that plague not only our country, but also the entire world.
Because I am interested in using vaccines as a cost-effective prevention method for many diseases, I plan to further my studies in public health and microbiology. A background in both of these fields will prepare me to take on a career in biomedical research dedicated to preventing infection, and in turn, curing diseases.
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