Rachael Smith

Research: enhance T cell responses to vaccines and immunotherapies

Rachael is a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Pathology and Immunology Graduate Program, co-mentored by Drs. John Wilson and Jeff Rathmell. She is from Spanish Fort, Alabama, and completed her B.S. in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry at the University of Montevallo in 2020. While completing her undergraduate degree, she worked for the CDC and WHO on the Global Burden of Influenza (IcEBErG) Project and studied under Dr. Rajindra Aryal in Dr. Cummings’ Lab at Harvard Medical School, where she investigated Cosmc knockout effect on O-glycosylation of the LDL receptor. Her current research focuses on engineering targeted nanoscale delivery platforms and harnessing multi-adjuvant synergy to enhance T cell responses to vaccines and immunotherapies.

Mentors: John T. Wilson, Ph.D. and Jeffrey Rathmell, Ph.D.