Find announcements and news about the University of Missouri School of Medicine Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology.
2024
Guldenpfennig and Okpasuo named as one of MU’s Scholars of Distinction, 2024
Caitlyn Guldenpfenning, a Molecular Microbiology and Immunology PhD candidate was named as one of MU’s Scholars of Distinction for 2024 for her achievements as an NIH Cancer Research Training Award Fellowship awardee.
Onyekachi Juliet Okpasuo, a Molecular Microbiology and Immunology PhD candidate was named as one of MU’s Scholars of Distinction for 2024 for her AAUW- American Association of University Women fellowship award.
Caitlyn is mentored by Dr. Mark Daniels and Onyekachi is mentored by Dr. Diana Gil Pagés.
Read about other Scholars of Distinction
Onyekachi (Juliet) Okpasuo honored with Mizzou 18 award
Onyekachi (Juliet) Okpasuo, a student in the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology degree program receives the Mizzou 18 Award.
Read about the Mizzou 18 Awards
Jason Furrer awarded 2024 Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence
Jason Furrer, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor for Molecular Microbiology and Immunology received the William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence.
2023
MD-PhD students awarded prestigious predoctoral fellowships
Brian Thomas and Cynthia Tang, both MD-PhD students were awarded prestigious NIH F30 predoctoral fellowships for their dissertation research. Thomas is a graduate student in the Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutics Program studying under Dr. Donald Burke-Aguero and Tang is a graduate student in the Data Science & Informatics program studying under Dr. Henry Wan. These students were the first MU students to receive this award from the NIH, which includes up to six years of funding.
Professors lead NIH-funded study
Drs. Emma Teixeiro-Pernas and Mark Daniels, Associate Professors of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and investigators in the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building, led an NIH-funded study that was recently published in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40107-1).
This study shows that it is possible to improve immunological memory against influenza by strengthening certain T cell signaling pathways – results that may lead to the development of more effective vaccines against influenza as well as other respiratory infections.
PhD candidate participates in SEC Emerging Scholars Program
Dennis Perez-Lopez, a PhD candidate in the Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutics Graduate Program, was selected to participate in the SEC Emerging Scholars Program in recognition of the cutting-edge research he is performing in the laboratory of Dr. Chris Lorson.
Professor awarded $19.9 million
Dr. Paul de Figueiredo, a Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, was awarded $19.9 million by the US government ARPA-H Program for SPIKEs – Synthetic Programmable bacteria for Immune-directed Killing in tumor Environments. This research project will program bacteria to find tumors by sensing their metabolites and deliver therapeutic payloads to enhance immune-mediated killing of cancer cells. To learn more about ARPA-H and the awardees please visit:
- ARPA-H projects aim to develop novel cancer technologies
- SPIKEs: Programmable Scalable Therapeutics for Immune-directed Cancer-killing/
