Student Research

Infectious Disease Research and Response Training Program (IDRRTP)

An NIH Ruth Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award Training Grant (T-32 NRSA), the IDRRTP supports predoctoral students engaged in research to address the prevention of infectious disease emergence and ongoing pandemics that threaten human health globally.

Trainees benefit from the vast expertise of experienced mentors within the IDRRN, state-of-the-art facilities, and substantial institutional programmatic resources and extra-mural funding.

Unique experiential opportunities and activities to encourage synergism in training, will provide diverse cohorts of predoctoral trainees with the necessary skills to confront infectious disease threats to human health as they embark upon academic or non-academic research careers.

Program Details

2023
Shelby Cagle, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Nicole Kelp and Rebekah Kading.
Samantha Courtney, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Greg Ebel.
Joe DeFranco, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Glenn Telling.
McKenzie Fletcher, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Gregg Dean and Allison Vilander.
Heidi Kloser, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Kelly Santangelo and Marcela Henao-Tamayo.
Courtney Maichak, Environmental Health Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Sheryl Magzamen.
Lauren Malsick, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Brian Geiss.
Kimberly Shelton, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Karen Dobos.

2022
Laura Bashor, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Sue VandeWoude.
Elena Lian, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Mary Jackson.
Greg Pugh, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Brian Foy.
Nicholas Whittel, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Ric Slayden.
Natalie Wickenkamp, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Rebekah Kading.

2021
Sarah Cooper, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Brendan Podell.
Emily Fitzmeyer, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Greg Ebel.
Darby Gilfillan, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Zaid Abdo and Gregg Dean.
Katherine Kokkinias, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Kelly Wrighton.
James Terry, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Brian Geiss.
Annika Weber, Food Science & Human Nutrition Ph.D. candidate, mentored by Elizabeth Ryan.

Summer Student Fellowship

2025
Shelby Cagle, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Rebekah Kading and Nicole Kelp.
Charlize Geer, Cell & Molecular Biology Ph.D. student, mentored by Mark Stenglein.
Julia Hilliard, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Casey Gries.
Diana Lowe, Cell & Molecular Biology Ph.D. student, mentored by Glenn Telling.

2024
Heidi Kloser, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Kelly Santangelo and Marcela Henao-Tamayo.
Maggie Priore, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Tony Schountz.
Delaney Worthington, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Nicole Kelp.
Andrea Russell, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Dean Crick and Adam Chicco.

2022
Noelia Altina, Cell & Molecular Biology Ph.D. student, mentored by Jeffrey Wilusz and Brian Geiss.
Sera Choi, Journalism & Media Communication Ph.D. student, mentored by Ashley Anderson and Nicole Kelp.
Kaleb Davis, Senior Microbiology B.S. student, mentored by Rebekah Kading and Christopher Snow.
Sasipha Hokeness, Senior Neuroscience B.S. student, mentored by Marcela Henao-Tamayo, John Walrond, and Katie Brown.

2021
Elena Lian, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Mary Jackson.
Beth Lunsford, Environmental Health Ph.D. student, mentored by Sheryl Magzamen.
Nicholas Whittel, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Ric Slayden.

2020
Noelia Altina, Cell & Molecular Biology Ph.D. student, mentored by Glenn Telling.
Jade Frank, D.V.M. student, mentored by Julie Moreno.

2019
Alexandra Moskaluk, Microbiology Ph.D. student, mentored by Sue VandeWoude.
Allison Vilander, Pathology Ph.D. student, mentored by Gregg Dean.