After having a serious phobia of germs as a child, Christina Kackos turned her fear into fascination. This sparked a passion for research and led her down the path of biology.
Kackos earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and biochemistry/molecular biology with distinction in 2017 from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.
Kackos currently works in the lab of Richard Webby, PhD, Infectious Diseases where she researches mRNA vaccines for the prophylactic treatment of influenza and SARS-CoV-2. She earned her master’s degree from the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in June 2019.
“The graduate faculty at St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Science is superb, the research is cutting edge and the facilities are state of the art,” she says. “The school’s rigorous program helps improve the world in which we live.”
Hometown: Neversink, New York
Dissertation: mRNA and Me: Evaluating the Construction and Formulation of mRNA Vaccines for Prevention of Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Publications
Harrington WN, Kackos CM, and Webby RJ. The evolution and future of influenza pandemic preparedness. Experimental & molecular medicine 2021; 53(5), 737–749. https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-021-00603-0