Manpreet Semwal, a graduate student in the Molecular Immunology & Microbiology discipline of the Integrated Biomedical Sciences program, has received the GSBS Travel Award for Fall 2019.

The GSBS Travel Awards supports travel to national scientific meetings for the presentation of their research. It is accepted three times each year (February 1, June 1, October 1).

Semwal will be attending the American Association of Immunologists conference in Honolulu, Hawaii which is taking place May 8^th– May 12^th 2020. Her presentation will be on “Redox regulation of autophagy in thymic stromal cell function.”

Currently, Semwal works in the lab of Dr. Ann V. Griffith where she is learning about the thymus biology.

“Our lab is interested in identification of lymphopoietic signals provided by the stromal microenvironment in the thymus, understanding the biology of thymic stromal cells and mechanisms and consequences (including diminished vaccine responses and increased susceptibility to infection ) of age-induced thymic atrophy.”

Specifically, she is working on understanding the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in thymic stromal cells and mechanisms by which ROS regulates basic thymus biology.