Patrick Nuro-Gyina successfully defended his PhD thesis this past July and completed his graduate program. Patrick’s thesis is entitled HECT E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Nedd4 is Required for Anti-Fungal Innate Immunity. He performed his thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Jian Zhang where he investigated the role of Nedd4 in innate immune responses against fungi. His findings demonstrated the need for this enzyme to enable activation of innate immune cells triggered by surface Dectin receptors. In addition to Dr. Zhang, Drs. Chad Rappleye, Amy Lovett-Racke and Jesse Kwiek (all from Ohio State University) served on Patrick’s committee.

Equally important, Dr. Nuro-Gyina’s thesis work was just published in the Aug. 1, 2021 issue of The Journal of Immunology. Of note, the paper was featured by the journal as a “Top Reads” article. Patrick has now started his Post-doctoral Fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Mary Wilson in Internal Medicine, and has been awarded an appointment on the University of Iowa Immunology T32 Postdoctoral Training Grant.

Patrick’s publication can be viewed at: https://www.jimmunol.org/content/207/3/868.long