Outsmarting the Lassa Virus through a Multi-target Vaccine - GSS 2.0 (2/4) - Onyeka Chukwudozie

ImmunoAfrica's Graduate Student Series offers emerging and aspiring immunologists the opportunity to connect with, learn from, and be inspired by some of the most talented immunology graduate students from Africa. For its second edition, this year, we peek into the fascinating work and busy lives of 4 graduate students (Vania, Onyeka, Deo-Gracias, and Segun), representing 3 African countries: Benin, Mozambique, and Nigeria. Our second guest is Onyeka Chukwudozie. Onyeka Chukwudozie is a virologist, immunologist, and structural biologist from Nigeria, with a bachelor's degree in Cell Biology and Genetics from the University of Lagos. Currently a PhD candidate at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the Erica Ollmann Saphire Lab at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, his research targets the notorious Lassa virus which has caused multiple outbreaks in West Africa for decades. He is leading research on the largest study to discover antibodies against the virus in Nigeria. Onyeka has received both the Curci and Merkin fellowships, collaborating with institutions such as IAVI, to advance studies on the Lassa virus vaccine. In this episode, Onyeka talks about his self-initiated journey to becoming fascinated with the field of immunology. He also shares updates on his current research to tease out antibody immune responses to the Lassa virus and develop a vaccine against its different lineages in Nigeria. Learn more about his work on ResearchGate. Female Intro/Outro Voice-over: Ruth Ogboye Timestamps: 00:00 - intro, about guest 02:45 - why immunology / how did you get into immunology 05:36 - about PhD research project (scope, implications, applications, etc.) 14:00 - how multidisciplinary expertise informs research 19:28 - PhD experience (time management and unwinding, mentoring and supporting junior and aspiring scientists, etc.) 27:07 - useful skills for graduate school success 32:07 - core values and principles 37:33 - next steps post-PhD 40:25 - fun task (transform ONYEKA into an immunology acronym; how many journal articles do you read in a day?) 45:16 - closing remarks 47:20 - outro