Miranda L
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Duke University
Expertise
Biology, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology, Immunology
Bio
I love learning and teaching others about infectious diseases and how pathogens have adapted to subvert our fierce, but delicate immune responses. As an immunology PhD student, I am also interested in what happens when part of our immune system is not working correctly. In the future, I aspire to teach and mentor students at an academic institution. As someone that used to struggle with learning science, my hope is to make learning about science and microbiology/immunology exciting, enjoyable, and comprehensible for my mentees. Aside from being a PhD student, I enjoy rock climbing and watching Jeopardy.Project ideas
Pathogens: The Culprit of Infections
Students will select a pathogen or infectious disease of their choosing. They will dig into literature of what makes this pathogen capable of causing disease. On the host side, they will also uncover the immune cells involved in controlling and stopping the infection. By the end of this project they will understand the full picture of host-pathogen interactions. This project can be turned into a fun, but informative presentation or mini review article.
Pathogens: A Variety of "Flavors"
As they say, pathogens come in a variety of "flavors" such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, helminths, and protists. Students will explore the key differences between these organisms and the deadliest pathogens among these types. These findings can be turned into a fun, but informative presentation or mini review article.
Our Beautiful Immune System
The student will investigate the basics of our immune system and immune cell functions. This project can then venture further to explore and research an autoimmune disease or deficiency to determine what happens when our immune system is not working correctly.