Student Profiles

Ben first became fascinated with viruses and immunity while consuming David Quammen’s Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic which led him to his first research position at the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla California. Mentored by Dr. Gene S. Tan, Ben characterized antibody-mediated and T-cell derived protection against a variety of viral pathogens including Zika, Dengue, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza. Recognizing the essential role that vaccination plays in saving lives, Ben spent a year in Cambodia supported by a Fulbright Research Scholarship to explore the possibility of measles self-vaccination in the floating villages of Prek Toal. Further seeking to understand viral surveillance and infection control measures, Ben performed novel bat viral surveillance in bat caves along the remote Laotian border, and conducted H5N1 outbreak control throughout the live-animal markets of Cambodia. Earlier, during his undergraduate studies, Ben participated in Pitzer College’s first “Inside-Out” cohort where he took classes alongside incarcerated men at California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, the nation’s first bachelors degree program for the incarcerated. 

As an NIH OxCam scholar, bringing evolving findings describing the necessary elements of successful viral clearance to vexing human cancers that evade immune clearance, Ben is applying spatial transcriptomics to characterize both innate and adaptive immunity towards both viral pathogens and cancer.

Ben is enthusiastic to collaborate with others who wish to join a global movement to employ novel technologies to more safely and comprehensively offer lifesaving vaccinations.