CVI Graduate Research Assistant Saniya Sabnis was awarded first place for her poster presentation “Humoral immunity leads to control of chronic Plasmodium infections” at the 2026 Department of Infectious Diseases Science Symposium.
CVI Bioinformatician Ross Low was awarded second place for his poster presentation “Genetic Basis for Hypnozoite Formation in Plasmodium vivax” at the 2026 Department of Infectious Diseases Science Symposium.
Dr. Chet Joyner, CVI Assistant Director and Principal Investigator, has become the new director of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Comparative Biomedical Sciences graduate program. With a broad background in training highly successful graduate students, Dr. Joyner is well qualified for the position. August 2026
Dawne Haas, Graduate Research Assistant in the Tompkins Lab, successfully defended her PhD Dissertation titled, “Mucosal Immunity Elicited by Vaccination and Sequential Viral Infection.” July 2026
Rose Miller, Graduate Research Assistant in the Tompkins Lab, successfully defended her PhD Dissertation titled, “Bridging Endemic and Emerging Viral Threats: Coronavirus Immunity and Influenza Stability at the One Health Interface.” June 2026
Justin Shepard, Graduate Research Assistant in the Tompkins Lab, successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled, “Engineering Immunomodulatory Influenza Vaccines Using TLR Agonist Conjugation and Mosaic Antigens.” June 2026
Wayne Cheng, Graduate Research Assistant in the Joyner Lab, successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled, “How P. vivax puts itself to sleep: The intrinsic nature of hypnozoite formation.” June 2026
Sarah Gayle Roberson, Research Technician in the Joyner Lab, received the CVM Research Technician Award for the year at the Faculty and Staff Appreciation event. This is a well-earned recognition of her outstanding efforts and contributions to research. May 2026
Widener Norris, undergraduate researcher in the Tompkins Lab, received the Lisa Anna Coole award for UGAs Foundation Fellows as well as a Fulbright scholarship, and received the Presidential Award of Excellence. May 2026
Taylor Chapman, Graduate Research Assistant in the Norris Lab, successfully defended her PhD Dissertation titled, “Maternal Immunization in a Research Model of Respiratory Syncytial Virus.” April 2026
Daniel Wychrij, Graduate Research Assistant in the Norris Lab, successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled, “Prevention and Treatment of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis in Pre-Clinical Models.” April 2026
Kwadwo Oworae, Graduate Research Assistant in the Norris Lab, successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled, “Prevention and Treatment of Invasive Candidiasis caused by drug-resistant Candidozyma auris (Candida auris).” April 2026
Casey Pac and Daniel Lanier, undergraduate researchers in the Norris Lab, both presented their research at the CURO Student Symposium. April 2026
CVI Director Dr. S. Mark Tompkins was one of three UGA faculty named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2025. Dr. Tompkins’ work on emerging and reemerging pathogens and the development of countermeasures highlights his dedication to scientific advancement and collaboration across the university. March 2026
Sean Ray, Graduate Research Assistant in the Tompkins Lab, successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled, “Novel influenza M2e vaccines and glycan receptor specificity of emerging H5N1 viruses.” March 2026
The Joyner Lab received a $113, 250 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, to develop techniques for transfecting malaria parasite sporozoites in order to test factors that influence the development of Plasmodium Vivax hypnozoites. If successful, this approach would substantially increase throughput for studying parasite determinants of dormant liver-stage formation, thereby enabling the identification of novel therapeutic targets. February 2026
Drs. Karen Norris and Whitney Rabacal have recently been issued a US patent for their pan-fungal vaccine. This vaccine targets life-threatening and chronic fungal infections, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. December 2025
Celia Saney, Scientific Coordinator in the Joyner Lab, received 1st place award at the 2025 Poster Presentation Session during the Steeve Giguère Science of Veterinary Medicine Symposium. November 2025
The Joyner Lab received a $490,775 grant from the Global Health Innovation Technology fund and a $300,000 grant from Medicines for Malaria Venture to test whether a new compound identified at UGA by Dr. Joyner and Kyle’s laboratories has the ability to eliminate the dormant forms of P. vivax from the liver. October 2025
Saniya Sabnis, Graduate Research Assistant in the Joyner Lab, was awarded 3rd place in the Infectious Diseases Oral Presentations at the 2025 Research Symposium. August 2025
Kwadwo Oworae, Graduate Research Assistant in the Norris Lab, received the CVM’s Competitive Research Grant for Graduate Students for his research proposal: Evaluating the Impact of the Pan-fungal Vaccine, NXT-2, on the Gut Microbiome and Mycobiome. August 2025
Magdalena Alba Argomaniz, Graduate Research Assistant in the Joyner Lab, received the CVM’s Competitive Research Grant for Graduate Students for her research proposal: Role of RNA binding proteins in Plasmodium vivax liver stage dormancy as well as a T-32 Scholar Award. August 2025
Wayne Cheng, Graduate Research Assistant in the Joyner Lab, was awarded the Sidney A. Ewing Graduate Scholarship in recognition of his outstanding Parasitology research with the Joyner Lab. July 2025
The Joyner Lab received a $453,383 grant from Coefficient Giving to test the immunogenicity of DNA and RNA vaccine constructs using a novel electroporation device developed by Piezo Therapeutics, a startup that is supported by the Georgia Research Alliance and housed at Georgia State. May 2025
The Joyner Lab received a $96,076 grant from MRI Global to test how freezing and thawing of samples containing malaria parasites impacts the detection of a novel malaria diagnostic platform. May 2025
Dr. Tompkins received a $492,610 grant for a collaborative project with Dr. Tom Krunkosky with the goals of understanding tropism of bovine H5N1 and other emerging viruses in primary cell culture systems. The research will focus on isolating primary cells from bovine respiratory and mammary tissues to understand infection and host response dynamics to better inform the risk of cross-species contagion and develop new tools for pandemic risk assessment and the research community. May 2025
Dr. Tompkins received a $596,312 grant for a collaborative project with Dr. Geert-Jan Boons with the goals of defining virus receptor specificity of emerging, potentially pandemic H5N1 influenza viruses to help define the risk of cross-species contagion and develop new tools for pandemic risk assessment. May 2025
The Tompkins Lab received a $1,085,159 grant continuing funding for the Center for Influenza Disease & Emergence Research (CIDER) Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR). The center focuses on understanding determinants of influenza disease severity and contributes to the CEIRR Risk Assessment program for emerging influenza viruses. April 2025
Dr. Norris received a $33,140 grant from the Georgia Research Alliance to support pre-clinical development of broadly reactive, pan-fungal monoclonal antibodies that could serve as new therapeutics or diagnostics. April 2025
Laiba Uroog, Graduate Research Assistant in the Tompkins Lab, passed her qualifying exams this semester. April 2025
CVI Assistant Director Dr. Chet Joyner received the Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award. With both his research on vaccine development to treat malaria and his strong vision and dedication to guiding the center, Dr. Joyner is an outstanding contributor to the CVI and to furthering the UGA Research mission. March 2025
The Joyner Lab received a $3,435,450 grant from the National Heart Lung Blood Institute to study how B cells engineered with broadly neutralizing antibodies traffick and respond to vaccination in comparison to non-engineered antibodies. This project will set the stage for translating this into a novel therapy for HIV individuals that are no longer able to take antiretroviral therapy. March 2025
The Tompkins Lab received a $189,355 grant to fund, organize, and host the Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) Annual Network Meeting, which brought together more than three hundred influenza virus experts from six NIAID CEIRRs, as well as government experts from the NIH, CDC, and USDA to share knowledge, review the pandemic risk assessment program, and discuss the natural history of influenza virus in wild animals, domesticated species, and humans. March 2025