Mark Menghini

Mark T. Menghini is a Ph.D. student in the Microbe-Host Interactions graduate program in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University. Mark earned a B.S. from the University of Wyoming in 2020 majoring in Molecular Biology, Physiology, and the Honors Program and minoring in Neuroscience. After graduation, he was recruited by the Wyoming Department of Health where he worked at the state public health laboratory on the COVID-19 Surge Team and was largely responsible for logistics, sample testing, and workflow management. He then earned an M.S. in Molecular Biology with a focus in virology from the University of Wyoming in 2022 under the mentorship of Dr. Donald L. Jarvis. Mark entered Vanderbilt University through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in 2023 where he was a IGP class representative and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences under the mentorship of Dr. James E. Crowe, Jr. He is a member of the Chemical Biology of Infectious Disease, ASPIRE Path in Molecular Medicine, and Antimicrobial Stewardship training programs. Mark has interests in leadership and mentorship roles as he is a Graduate Student Association Social Chair, an Undergraduate Research Journal mentor, and a College Reading and Learning Association certified instructor. His current research focuses on the discovery and characterization of medical countermeasures, primarily human monoclonal antibodies, against various emerging and re-emerging alphaviruses with pandemic potential. Prototype pathogens are used as a proof-of-concept of the laboratory's capabilities, workflow, and efficiency to rapidly identify an optimal combinatorial therapy of potently neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against a selected target pathogen.

Mentor: James Crowe, MD