Katherine Suzanne Lee

PhD Student

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Department:

Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology

Classification:

Graduate Assistant

Katherine graduated from WVU’s Immunology and Medical Microbiology program in May 2021. During her undergraduate studies she gained research experience working in the lab of Dr. Edwin Wan’s lab where she contributed to projects surrounding investigation of immune cell infiltration into the CNS after ischemic stroke. In the fall of 2020, Katherine joined WVU’s Vaccine Development Center in the laboratory of Dr. Heath Damron where she supported early projects within the WVU Rapid Development Laboratory’s COVID-19 effort. Through these projects and others that she was exposed to through her coursework, Katherine became interested in studying inflammatory pathways and mechanisms through which inflammation can be modulated for therapeutic use.

Currently, Katherine is a PhD candidate in the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis FastTrack program mentored by Dr. Damron. Her work largely focuses on preclinical models of SARS-CoV-2 infection including those for comorbidities, that act as a platform for the investigation of novel vaccines and therapeutics.