Rebecca Ursin

Rebecca Ursin is a native of Freeport, Illinois, and received her bachelor’s of science in biology with a minor in physics from DePaul University in Chicago. While at DePaul, she was a goalkeeper for their Division I women’s soccer team. She then moved to Washington, D.C., and earned her master’s degree in Biotechnology from Georgetown University. Rebecca is currently finishing her fourth year as a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, in the laboratory of Dr. Sabra L. Klein. Rebecca researches the immunological effects of infection and vaccination with respiratory viruses in humans and mice. Specifically, her thesis focuses on host and viral factors that influence the antibody response to influenza virus vaccination in humans and mice. Currently, Rebecca is developing assays and using human blood samples from COVID19+ patients to assess the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins. Her work directly assists large scale studies which hope to use plasma from these recovered patients for treatment of healthcare workers exposed to COVID19 as well as immunocompromised individuals.