Convocation for 2!

Dr. Jenny Nguyen and Dr. Megan Vierhout received their PhD diplomas on November 21, 2024. Both were hooded by supervisor, Dr. Jeremy Hirota, as part of their convocation ceremony.

Dr. Jenny Nguyen’s PhD thesis was entitled “Cyclic AMP and CFTR Modulation in Human Airway Epithelial Cells in the Context of Lung Health and Disease“. Jenny will soon be starting as a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University (Yale School of Medicine), under the supervision of Dr. Maor Sauler. Her research will focus on lung injury and repair mechanisms in COPD, utilizing precision-cut lung slices and genomic analyses to identify key pathways driving disease progression. She will also be using mouse models to study the effects of targeted therapies on lung repair, with the goal of advancing new treatment strategies.

Dr. Megan Vierhout’s PhD thesis was entitled “Investigating Macrophages and Monocytes as Profibrotic Immunopathogenic Contributors to Pulmonary Fibrosis“. Megan has begun a Discovery Postdoctoral Fellowship at Novartis Biomedical Research in Boston, Massachusetts. As a part of Disease Area eXploratory (DAx) and Discovery Sciences (DSc), she is focusing on applying innovative approaches to address unmet medical needs and ultimately improve the lives of patients living with incurable illnesses.

We are so very proud to have these two PhD scientists as Firestone Alumni!