Student Profiles

Stephanie graduated cum laude from the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 2020 with a degree in cell and molecular biology and minor in chemistry. While at URI she worked under Dr. Marta Gomez-Chiarri for two years where she was introduced to the field of aquatic pathology and learned to utilize quantitative microbiology and aquatic husbandry to develop strategies to protect marine life and aquaculture systems from infectious diseases. Her senior year she was awarded an Undergraduate Research and Innovation(URI2) grant to understand the pathogenic relationship between climatic variation and the emergence of a bacterial isolate causing mortality in wild fin-fish populations from the Galapagos.

Post-graduation, she desired further experiences understanding the molecular details of microbial pathogenesis and joined the laboratory of Dr. Vanessa Hirsch at the NIH as a postbaccalaureate fellow. Alongside mentor, Dr. Fadila Bouamr, she conducted experiments elucidating mechanisms of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT), host cell machinery hijacked by most human RNA viruses, to address questions regarding transmission of HIV-1 virions. In addition, she worked on a project developing an oral-based vaccine capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in collaboration with Dr. Michael Grigg and his lab.

Throughout her two years as a postbaccalaureate fellow, Stephanie became fascinated with the intrinsic cellular barriers to viral infection studying the role of antiviral restriction factor, TRIM5alpha, and its implications in pathogenesis of retroviruses as well as flaviviruses in an on-going collaboration with Dr. Sonja Best. She will continue characterizing novel restrictive functions of TRIM5alpha as an NIH-Oxford Scholar which she hopes may strengthen insights into viral pathogenesis and the development of antiviral therapies. Working alongside Oxford mentor, Dr. Peijun Zhang, she hopes to learn and harness the powerful technologies of high-resolution imagining for a firm structure-function understanding of TRIM5alpha recognition mechanisms.

Believing that the fight against the global burden of pathogens relies on an understanding of their basic biology, Stephanie plans to continue expanding her arsenal of technical skills and knowledge to study host-virus interactions. She hopes her efforts will contribute to the development of preventative measures and treatments.