Sonya Haupt

I am a third year Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Sciences program. Prior to graduate studies I received a B.S in Molecular and Cellular Biology as well as an M.S in Structural Biology from the University of Connecticut. Following which, I worked for three years in Boston at an immuno-oncology therapeutics startup in the Protein Engineering and Research department. I work now within the lab of Dr. Shane Crotty studying the body's adaptive immune response to vaccines and infection. My main projects evaluate vaccine strategies and technologies for an HIV vaccine. I love the research I do because it is exploring and solving complex problems in science that will help many, many people across the world. I hope to work on vaccine technology for my entire career, wether that be in academia or in industry. I am extremely excited that ARCS is supporting my stipend now that I face what may be a longer Ph.D. pursuing both COVID immunity and HIV vaccine projects in tandem.