Ben Feldman

A driven and dedicated undergraduate researcher at UC Davis, eager to apply my expertise and strong technical research skills in virology and immunology through a meaningful, real-world research position.

I have been an undergraduate researcher and lab member of the Shah Lab since my freshman year at UC Davis. I am currently working under principal investigator Dr. Priya Shah and postdoc Liuba Cherkashchenko, where we are concerned with Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) - host protein interactions and their effects on viral replication. Our primary goal is to understand better the molecular mechanisms by which YFV exploits host transcription/translation machinery to accelerate its replication cycle and inhibit host immunity. From this, we hope to reveal new insights for improving current understandings of YFV infection and extrapolate similar flavivirus interactions being studied within our lab. Much of my work is done in a BSL 2 environment, beginning with cell culture and transfection of HEK293 and VERO cell lines to express select proteins for affinity purification and mass spectrometry. From the proteins we pull down and filter via MiST and SAINT scoring, we develop numerous interactome networks, both of mosquito and human host domains, that serve to further pinpoint the protein interactions of interest. This represents the earlier stages of our project pipeline, which is more computation-based. In regards to more wet-lab work, I am responsible for conducting several procedures including DNA/RNA extraction, mass plaque assays, and PCR/qPCR to name a few, as well as performing lentiCRISPR plasmid cloning for generating our knockout/knockdown host cell lines. This represents a key aspect of our research: utilizing CRISPRi technology to induce mutations in host protein loci that have been identified to be critical to YFV replication. Currently, we are in the process of developing our manuscript and anticipate its completion in the near future. 

I will be graduating in the spring from UC Davis with a B.S. in Molecular and Medical Microbiology, and minor in Global Disease Biology. By that time, I will have completed three years of interdisciplinary research in the Shah Lab, integrating virology, microbiology, and molecular genetics. Upon joining the lab, I knew I wanted to study virus-host interactions and immunological responses to viral pathogens. I later began working under postdoc member Liuba Cherkashchenko studying Yellow Fever virus-Host interactions and the effects of host protein expression on viral replication efficiency. My research experience as a whole has been transformative in developing the technical skills, insights, and professionalism essential for a career in the vaccine research and development industry. Outside of the lab, I have excelled in several relevant courses including Biochemistry, Human Immunology, Human Microbiology, and Molecular Genetics to name a few. I am currently enrolled in General Virology and Advanced Microbiology, and will be taking Biology of Animal Viruses in the future. Beyond my health-related volunteer internships, I have also been nominated for the UC Davis Prized Writing independent research contest, College of Biological Sciences (CBS) Undergraduate of the Year award, CBS Distinguished Scholar Award, and the Ron and Lydia Baskin Research Award. Other relevant recognitions include being a member of the UC Davis Dean's List and National Society of Leadership and Success.