Trainees are introduced to the laboratories participating in the program. You have the opportunity to visit these laboratories and select three in which you will spend six weeks immersed in the lab’s research program. You'll then select your thesis lab in the spring.

In conjunction with the laboratory rotations, you begin fulfilling the core curriculum requirements as well as the virology and gene therapy requirements. Most students complete the core courses by the end of their first year in addition to taking the written qualifying exam.

As a second-year student, most of your time is spent in the lab developing preliminary data toward your thesis project. By December of the second year, you draft your thesis proposal and take the oral qualifying examination on your proposal. Together with a thesis advisor, you select faculty members to participate in your thesis advisory committee.

Second-year students also take advanced tutorials in virology and molecular therapy as well as areas related to your project.

The third and subsequent years are devoted primarily to pursuing thesis research with some additional courses.

Thesis advisory committee meetings assess the trajectory and evaluate the progress of your thesis research project on a regular basis. Upon completion, you write a thesis and present your findings in seminar form. This is followed by a thesis defense.

• “Development of Ebola Virus Life Cycle Modeling Systems for Analysis of Nucleoprotein Function and Roles in Virulence” Brady Zell (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Biological Significance of Newly Identified Viral Transcripts to the Life Cycle and Pathogenesis of Members of the Genus Thogotovirus” Vaille Swenson (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Gene Therapy for X-linked Alport Syndrome” Brian Parrett (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Novel Vesiculovirus Library Characterization for Repeat Dosing Strategies” Natalie Elliott (Mentor: Mitesh Borad, M.D.)
• “Where’s Waldo: Finding Tumor Antigens in the Circus of the Tumor Microenvironment” Benjamin Kendall (Mentor: Richard Vile, Ph.D.)
• “The Role of a Chemokine Receptor CCR8 in Regulation of Type 2 Immunity in Response to Airborne Allergens” Min-Jhen Jheng (Mentor: Hirohito Kita, M.D.)
• “Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Antitumor Immunity in Response to Radiotherapy” Chisom Uzendu (Mentor: Fabrice Lucien-Matteoni, Ph.D.)
• “Combining Cytotoxicity through Tumor Specific TCR and CAR to Improve Efficacy of CAR-T Cell Therapy” Kun Yun (Mentor: Saad Kenderian, M.B.Ch.B.)
• “Gene Therapy for Osseous Nonunions” Erin McGlinch (Mentors: Christopher Evans, Ph.D. and Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Development of RNA-based Oncolytic Immunotherapeutic Combination Platforms for Cancer” Kyla Boyd (Mentor: Autumn Schulze, Ph.D.)
• “Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variant Expression on Cardiomyocytes Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells” Dimitrije Ratkov (Mentor: Roberto Cattaneo, Ph.D.)
• “Improving Anti-Tumor Activity of Engineered Cytotoxic CD8⁺ T cells” Wenjing Zhang (Mentor: Haidong Dong, M.D., Ph.D.)
• “Improving and Developing Foamy Virus Rescue Efficiency and Applications in Gene Therapy” Eric Cheang (Mentor: David Deyle, M.D.)
• “Gastrointestinal Tract Decolonization of Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella Pneumoniae using Phage” Luz Cuello-Pagnone (Mentor: Robin Patel, M.D.)
• “Characterizing the Anti-Viral Responses to Foamy Virus Infection, Replication and Persistence in Human and Murine Cells as a Prelude to Development of Foamy Virus as an Oncolytic Vector” Soha Rizk (Mentor: Richard Vile, Ph.D.)
• “Gene Therapy for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease” Asmaa Mekawy (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Improving Tumor Clearance and  Persistence of Primary CAR-NK Cells through Modulation of the SHIP-1/PI3K Signaling Axis” Dominic Skeele (Mentor: Saad Kenderian, M.B.Ch.B)
• “Optimizing Helper-Dependent Adenovirus Vectors for the Gene Therapy of Alport Syndrome by Capsid Engineering” Micah Curran (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Decoupling the Contributions of Measles Virus C Protein and Human Adenosine Deaminase Acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1) to Evasion of Innate Immune Activation Elicited by Double-Stranded RNA” Matt Acosta (Mentor: Christian Pfaller, Ph.D.)

• “Unconstrained Mitochondrial Base Editors,” Santiago Restrepo-Castillo, Ph.D. (Mentors: Stephen Ekker, Ph.D. and Patricia Devaux, Ph.D.)
• “The Systems Biology of Personalized Medicine,” Angela Florio, Ph.D. (Mentor: George Vasmatzis, Ph.D.)
• “Mechanisms of Measles Virus Brain Tropism Acquisition and Spread,” Iris, Ph.D. (Mentor: Roberto Cattaneo, Ph.D.)

• “Engineering Adenoviral Vectors for Oncolytic Immunotherapy,” Shao-Chia Lu, Ph.D. (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Modulation of CART cell Activation to Enhance Antitumor Response via CRISPR-mediated Gene Editing and Combined Immunotherapy,” Claudia Manriquez Roman, Ph.D. (Mentor: Saad Kenderian, M.B.Ch.B.)

• “Measles Vector Platform for Reprogramming and Gene Editing of Human Fibroblasts,” Naga (Ramya) Rallabandi, Ph.D. (Mentor: Patricia Devaux, Ph.D.)
• “The Role of the Polycytidine Tract in Mengovirus Oncolytic Virotherapy,” Velia Penza, Ph.D. (Mentor: Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D.)

• “Generation and Characterization of a Foamy Virus-Based Replicating Retroviral Vector System For Cancer Therapy,” Karol Budzik, Ph.D. (Mentor: Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D.)
• “Combination Therapy Using Adenovirus Delivered Immune Adjuvants To Improve CAR T Cells In Solid Tumors,” Christopher Driscoll, Ph.D. (Mentor: Richard Vile, Ph.D.)
• “Identification of Novel Antivirals Against Emerging Tick-Borne Viruses,” Crystal Mendoza, Ph.D. (Mentor: Hideki Ebihara, Ph.D.)
• “Gene Therapy for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease,” Jeffrey Rubin, Ph.D. (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)
• “Tracking Gene Editing In Vivo and Enhancing Editing Efficiency for Gene Therapy,” William Gendron, Ph.D. (Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.)

• “Exploration of the Protein Sequence Space of the Sodium Iodide Symporter (NIS) Across Chordate Evolution to Improve In Vivo Imaging,” Susanna Concilio, Ph.D. (Mentor: Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D.)
• “Reversal of Intratumoral Antiviral State to Enhance the Oncolytic Efficacy of Small RNA Viruses,” Justin Maroun, M.D., Ph.D. (Mentor: Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D.)
• “Targeting Mechanisms of Protein Degradation to Improve Viral Immunotherapy,” Amanda Huff, Ph.D. (Mentor: Richard Vile, Ph.D.)