Congratulations to doctoral student Tessa Cannon and her advisor, Dr. Scott McGraw! They recently received two grants to study simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV).

Through the Infectious Disease Institute's Trainee Transformative Research Grant program, Tessa and post-doctoral researcher Dr. Rajni Kant Shukla will explore methods for storing and testing primate fecal samples for SIV by inoculating fecal samples from primates at the Columbus Zoo with known concentrations of inactivated SIV. 

Additionally, through the President's Research Excellence Accelerator Grant program, Tessa will work with her co-advisor Dr. Vanessa Hale, along with Dr. McGraw and Dr. Yael Vodovotz, to identify a non-invasive method for SIV infection status and compare gut and oral microbiota of wild and captive mangabeys with or without SIV.

Image by law_keven at https://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2435975103