Ellie Bourgikos

Ellie Bourgikos, BS

MPH student | Yale School of Public Health | Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
Laboratory of Epidemiology of Public Health (LEPH) | 60 College St. | New Haven, CT 06510
Email: [email protected]

BA in Biology & English — Case Western Reserve University

As an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University, I majored in Biology and English, with a minor in chemistry. Here, I was introduced to genomics for the first time, and absolutely fell in love with it. I spent the rest of my four years focusing my coursework on ecology, evolution, and phylogenetics. During this time, I also interned with several federal agencies across different areas of public health including environmental health and toxicology (ATSDR), infectious disease surveillance (CDC), and adverse events (FDA). While I loved working with each of these groups, I still wanted the opportunity to participate in epidemiological research. As a senior, I completed my Biology capstone in Phylogenetic Comparative Methods, where I studied the ecological and morphological traits of bats as they relate to viral reservoir status.

I’m currently pursuing my MPH in Epidemiology of Microbial Disease at the Yale School of Public Health, with a concentration in public health modeling. I could not be more excited to be studying infectious disease and working in pathogen genomic research! At the Grubaugh lab, I am currently working on sequencing and analyzing Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV), a segmented arbovirus associated with rare cases of encephalitis in the Midwest and Northeast.

Outside of the lab, I play water polo with Yale’s Club Women’s team and love traveling, concerts, open water swimming, watching (re-watching) movies, and spending time with my family and friends!