Jourdan received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Washington State University. She is currently completing her MSc in Comparative Medicine at the University of Washington in Professor Charles Frevert's laboratory, where she is focused on understanding the role of versican, an extracellular chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, in the innate immune response to influenza viral pneumonia. Her research project has a particular emphasis on the microenvironment of the lung and co-localization of immune cells with versican over the course of influenza disease. In her work, Jourdan leverages histology, immunohistochemistry and quantitative digital pathology techniques in order to answer important questions about the role of versican in influenza pneumonia. With the Cornerstone Grant, she is excited to be able to conduct experiments utilizing in situ hybridization which will further elucidate the cellular sources and signaling pathways responsible for versican expression in the lungs during influenza pneumonia. After completing her MSc in Comparative Medicine Jourdan plans to continue her training in a PhD program with a strong emphasis on translational research. As a veterinary scientist she hopes to investigate translational research questions regarding zoonotic infectious diseases throughout her career. 

Hayley Fisher is a graduate student in Dr. Charles Pickens's lab at Kansas State University. She studies the neural circuitry of goal-directed decision making, with a special interest in thalamocortical interactions.

David Bächinger, MD, graduated from medical school in 2016 and is currently enrolled in a MD-PhD program at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. At the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich, he is pursuing a PhD project with a focus on the endolymphatic sac and Meniere’s disease. Beside that, he started his otolaryngology residency in in 2017.