MB Trainees Accomplishments Summer 2026

Jessica Pfannenstiel (Fehr lab) successfully defended her PhD dissertation entitled “Defining the Impact of Coronavirus Macrodomain Mutations and Inhibitors on Coronavirus Biology” on June 10, 2026.  She is currently pursuing postdoctoral research at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas

Nilanjan Roy (Unckless lab) successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “Study of persistent RNA viruses in Drosophila melanogaster” on July 21, 2026.  He is now a postdoctoral fellow at Children Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Hongping Hao (Davido Lab) successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “High throughput inhibitor screening identified ALK as novel host factor involved in HSV replication" on July 24, 2026.

Erick McCloskey (Davido lab) successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled “Domain and Its Role During Acute Viral Infection” on August 12, 2026.  He is pursuing  postdoctoral research at Hannover Medical School (MHH) in Hannover, Germany.