Hi GDB! My name is Andrew, and I graduated from UC Davis in Spring 2019. Currently, I am a medical student at the Yale School of Medicine. Prior to joining the Global Disease Biology major, I started out as an undeclared life sciences major. I was uncertain which major would best suit my interests and wanted time to explore my options. During this period, I found that I enjoyed thinking about health and biological systems from a broader perspective.

Hello! I'm Aninditha Keshavan, a third year GDB student from Loma Linda, California. I've always known that I want to pursue public health policy and research, as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic significantly shaped the way I see the world. Through my education at UCD, I've been able to learn about the different facets of public health, from policy to data to biology research. It has broadened my perspective and helped me understand how I can best contribute to the mitigation of infectious diseases.

When I was a graduate student in biochemistry at UC San Diego, I often spent long hours running experiments on instruments that lacked computer interfaces—this was way before WiFi and smart phones—so I used that downtime to read scientific journal articles. I routinely read high-profile journals such as Science, Nature, and Cell to stay broadly informed about developments across the sciences.

Happy January! This month, we have the honor of spotlighting the lovely Tiffany Chen! Tiffany's Practicum title is "Researching mEH Activity in Rare vs. Non-Rare Human EPHX1 Variants." She completed her project under the guidance of mentor Dr. Christophe Morriseau and PI the late Dr. Bruce Hammock.

Links & Information:

Hi! My name is Ellen and I am part of GDB’s 2018 graduating class. I transferred into the GDB program from my local community college in Fall 2016 excited to get my first research experience, and it was a huge encouragement that all of my peers in GDB were also pursuing research. It felt like I was part of a diverse, interdisciplinary research community in GDB, a community bolstered by the program’s leadership’s enthusiasm for student research (s/o Dr. Rizzo and Dr. Leveau).

Michelle is the Undergraduate Program Coordinator and Scheduler for the Phoenix Cluster which includes the Entomology and Nematology Department and Plant Pathology Department. She also supports the Global Disease Biology, Animal Biology, and Entomology major advising teams. Michelle was also a GDB Peer Advisor from 2021-2023!

Hi everyone! I'm Emily Wheeler, a 4th year GDB student and English minor. 

I have always been fascinated with diseases and finding out that there was a way for me to focus my college experience on it was beyond perfect. I started at Davis as a different major but almost immediately switched to GDB after taking SAS 13 where my interest in diseases (whether it be of humans, plants, or animals) grew even more. 

Happy December! We are so excited to present this month’s episode featuring GDB student, August Quilliam (she/her). Augusta's practicum project is titled “CRISPR-mediated gene knockout in Botrytis cinerea for identification of novel virulence factors and potential antifungal targets.” She is completing her practicum project under the guidance of her PI, Dr. Ioannis Stergiopoulos.

Links & Information:

We had the pleasure of interviewing Morgan Streeter for our November Podcast! Their practicum project is on the environmental transmission of pathogenic E. coli from dairy cows. They are currently completing their project under their PI, Dr. Robert Atwill. Dr. Atwill is not accepting any applications at the moment.

Links & Information:

Dr. Robert Atwill (⁠[email protected]⁠)

Hello! My name is Brianna Vargas, and I am currently a fourth-year Global Disease Biology student. My career goal is to become a physician, with particular interest in emergency medicine and orthopedic surgery. Last year, I earned my EMT license and began working in interfacility transport. After sustaining a knee injury that prevented me from working, I began volunteering for the UC Davis EMT program, where I help teach essential skills to EMTs in training.