Teresa Mejias

 

Hi, my name is Teresa de los A. Mejías Serrano, and I am originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico. I have a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, which I obtained from the University of Puerto Rico, Ponce campus.

As someone who grew up constantly interacting with doctors due to unceasing viral infections, I decided to go to college determined to become a physician to assist with treating diseases caused by these microscopic adversaries. However, the more I learned through my microbiology class about viruses and the role some play in the survival of all species, the more I wanted to delve into how and why viruses cause disease. I soon realized that my passion lay in working in the laboratory, making discoveries to provide medical staff with the necessary knowledge and tools to treat patients.

But given my limited research experience during my undergraduate studies,  I applied to the NIH PREP program at UGA to obtain robust research training. Since my research interests were focused on the molecular mechanisms facilitating viral pathogenesis, this program allowed me to venture into these scientific queries while learning what it entails to do research at the graduate level.

During my time as a PREP scholar, I worked at the lab of Dr. Daniela Rajao in the Collaborative Research for the Pathogenicity of Flu (CRP-Flu) Group under the supervision of Dr. Joaquín Cáceres. Here I worked on characterizing H9N2 Influenza A viruses that differ in the amino acid composition of their antigenic domain. Previous research has indicated that under-reporting of H9 subtype influenza viruses has contributed to its perpetuation in poultry and the emergence of zoonotic strains of pandemic concern. My investigation aimed to determine how circulating H9 influenza viruses have diversified antigenically. I used laboratory techniques such as Cell Culture Preparation, Plasmid Cloning, Reverse Genetic Transfection, Hemagglutination Assays, and Reverse Transcript-PCR to address this question.

Participating in PREP allowed me to familiarize myself with graduate student life while solidifying my decision to pursue advanced education. After finishing the PREP Program, I will start the Comparative Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program at the University of Georgia, where I will continue to work in the Collaborative Research for the Pathogenicity of Flu (CRP-Flu) Group for my thesis.