Lauren Mahoney

 

My name is Lauren Mahoney and I am from Boston, MA. I received a BS in biology from Emory University, where I first became involved in research in Dr. Stacy McAllister’s lab study endometriosis disease mechanisms and treatment via drug repurposing. After this initial exposure, I knew I wanted to gain more hands-on laboratory experience and to pursue a graduate education. The PREP program offered the unique opportunity to gain this experience while preparing me for the future.

As a PREP scholar, I worked in Dr. Jarrod Mousa’s lab in the Center for Vaccines and Immunology (CVI) to study the use of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat and prevent infection by targeting highly conserved bacterial surface proteins. My project applied this methodology to Streptococcus pyogenes or Group A Strep (GAS), a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. During my time in the Mousa Lab, I was able to isolate several antigen specific antibodies and developed a wide breadth of techniques and skills that will serve me greatly going forward.

Next, I will pursue a PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Comparative Biomedical Sciences program.