As a first-generation student, Maria Smith is excited to learn from other scientists in local, national and international laboratories. Her fascination with infectious diseases, especially those affecting minority and neglected populations, is her primary motivation for further education and research.
Smith earned her bachelor’s degree in biotechnology and molecular bioscience in 2018 from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Her research interests include infectious diseases and immunology. She hopes to develop early diagnosis strategies and provide cost-effective treatments for neglected populations.
Smith is currently working in the lab of Stacey Shultz-Cherry, PhD, Infectious Diseases.
“Due to the limited research conducted in the Caribbean, I want to focus on how infectious diseases affect Caribbean residents, particularly those in the Commonwealth of Dominica,” she says.
Hometown: Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica
Dissertation: Regulation of Interferon Responses by the β6 Integrin Subunit at the Respiratory Epithelium
Publications
Wiggins K, Smith M, Schultz-Cherry S. The Nature of Immune Responses to Influenza Vaccination in High-Risk Populations. Viruses 13:1109, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13061109.
Smith M, Honce R, Schultz-Cherry S. 2020. Metabolic Syndrome and Viral Pathogenesis: Lessons from Influenza and Coronaviruses. J Virol 94:e00665-20. https://doi .org/10.1128/JVI.00665-20.