Jenna Grabowski

I am originally from a small town outside of Chicago called Streator, Illinois. I attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) for my undergraduate work and graduated in 2023 with my B.S. in Integrative Biology. At SIUE, I worked in Dr. Susanne DiSalvo’s lab where I studied the symbiotic relationship between Dictyostellium discoideum, a soil dwelling amoeba, and Paraburkholderia bacteria. I was interested in exploring the amoeba’s innate immune system against different Paraburkholderia species. During my undergraduate studies, I also participated in an NSF REU at the University of Chicago in Dr. Heng-Chi Lee’s lab where I studied transgenerationally inherited avoidance behavior in C. elegans against the pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After working with D. discoideum and C. elegans, I decided to shift my focus towards working with human pathogens. After taking a virology course, I became interested in specifically working with human viruses. This led me to apply to the Molecular Genetics & Microbiology program at Duke and join the Luftig Lab. My research now focuses on how cellular factors regulate early infection and the reciprocal measures used by the EBV protein EBNA-LP to overcome these restrictions.

Outside of lab I enjoy reading, watching movies, listening to music, and exploring new activities such as hiking and rock climbing. I also always enjoy trying a new café or brunch spot with friends.