Congratulations to the recipients of the Spring 2023 IDI Trainee Transformative Research Grant! Mario Alles, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Microbial Infection & Immunity, College of Medicine, Marcus Vinicius Merfa e Silva, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Plant Pathology, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and Sam Xing, Graduate Research Associate, Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, all received a $2,000 grant for their projects as follows:
Dr. Mario Alles, applicant (PI: Dr. Namal Liyanage) & Aditi Varkey, co-applicant (PI: Dr. Patrick Collins) will collaborate on “Investigate the role of HIV-induced hyperactive memory-like NK cell responses in atherogenesis."
Dr. Marcus Vinicius Merfa e Silva, applicant (PI: Dr. Jonathan Jacobs) & Zachary Konkel, co-applicant (PI: Dr. Jason Slot) will collaborate on “Use of metagenomics sequencing to assess the role of cell-to-cell signaling in phyllosphere microbial community assembly."
Sam Xing, applicant (PI: Dr. Pui-Kai Li) & Dr. Deepthi Kappala, co-applicant (PI: Dr. Amit Sharma) will collaborate on “Computation-guided optimization of a small molecule for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry.”