This year we bid a bittersweet adieu to four exceptional undergraduate students: Nicholas Archer, Evelyn Wu, Gabriel Lipkowitz, and Raymond Guo. These “fantastic four” all joined the lab early in their undergraduate careers and quickly demonstrated their aptitude for science, excitement about projects in the Ploss lab, and fun personalities. After celebrating their achievements at the 2019 Ploss lab annual barbecue, we are sad, but also very proud, to see them go!

Here are snapshots of their work and future plans:

Nicholas Archer
Concentration: Molecular Biology
Certificates: Neuroscience and Spanish Language and Culture
Thesis: "Investigation of Determinants Governing Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) Host Tropism and Identification and Characterization of Small Molecules Inhibiting HEV Replication" 
Future plans: Two-year position at Rockefeller University studying tuberculosis in the Rock lab!

Evelyn Wu
Concentration: Molecular Biology
Certificate: Global Health and Health Policy
Thesis: "Development of an experimental paradigm for the investigation of innate immune pathways restricting hepatitis delta virus replication" 
Future plans: Working as the Regional Program Coordinator at Reach Out and Read in NYC as part of the Princeton Project 55 fellowship!

Gabriel Lipkowitz
Concentration: Molecular Biology
Thesis: "Towards in vitro and in vivo model systems for hepatitis B and Delta viruses" 
Future plans: MSc in Applied Computational Science and Engineering at Imperial College in London, UK under a Fulbright Award!

Raymond Guo
Concentration: Molecular Biology
Certificate: Spanish Language and Culture
Thesis: "Designing a system to investigate the impact of spatial transcriptional differences in the liver on hepatitis delta virus infection"
Future plans: Attending Baylor College of Medicine this coming July!