By Merin C. MacDonald | Date published: November 18, 2024

Jennifer Powers Receives Ruth L. Kirschstein Fellowship Award 

Jennifer Powers, an MD/PhD candidate at UMass Chan in the lab of Dr. Megan Orzalli, has received an F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA for MD/​PhD and other Dual Degree Fellowship award. With her funding, Jennifer will investigate the role of caspase-3 mediated cleavage of VPS4A in restricting HSV-1. She hopes that the completion of her project aims will lead to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which caspases restrict HSV-1 and fill an important gap in the field regarding how these proteases function in antiviral defense at barrier tissues.