Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Project Title: Antiviral Discovery in Microbial Eukaryotes
Award Year: 2024
Biography
Dr. Jordan received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where he worked with Dr. Glenn Randall to understand how viruses rewire cellular metabolism to benefit their replication. He then completed his postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Benjamin tenOever (now at NYU Grossman School of Medicine), where his research focused on the cellular pathways essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the background of his formal training, Dr. Jordan was enamored by the “giant” viruses that infect microbial eukaryotes, and the fact that microbial eukaryotes do not seem to share mechanisms of antiviral defense that have evolved in other eukaryotes. Now, as an Assistant Professor at The University of Washington in the Departments of Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, Dr. Jordan is focused on identifying the antiviral machinery of these microbial eukaryotes. As has been the case with studying the antiviral systems in bacteria, plants, and insects, Dr. Jordan expects that discovery of how microbial eukaryotes detect and eliminate viral infection will provide countless new molecular tools that can be repurposed for the betterment of human health.