January 23, 2026
Lisa Gibbs, PhD
Postdoc, Shlomchik Lab
What inspired y
ou to pursue immunology research?
Neither of my parents went to college or worked in STEM, so I didn’t know research was a career option. I’d always been interested in biology and animals and thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I’m very allergic to cats and don’t enjoy being around farm animals, so I realized this wasn’t very realistic. In college, I was matched with an immunology lab to get some research experience, and I ended up really enjoying the work. I eventually joined the lab as a graduate student to study how maternal infection shapes offspring immunity, which I still think is super interesting.
What does your research focus on?
My project looks at what happens to memory B cells when they are activated again, such as after a booster shot. Memory B cells can differentiate into antibody-secreting cells, but we don’t know whether all memory B cells do this equally well. We also don’t fully understand how the pool of memory B cells is preserved after repeated activation if many of them become antibody-secreting cells. Most murine studies look at memory B cells generated during the primary immune response, but repeated stimulation is often ignored, so it’s unknown they are transcriptionally and epigenetically equal to memory B cells that have been reactivated. Ultimately, this is important for better understanding long-term immunity and improving vaccine design.
What are your career aspirations?
I want to stay in academia and start my own lab one day. Especially being a Black woman, I feel like the representation is important.
What makes you happy outside the lab?
When I’m not in lab, I’m usually knitting and watching reality TV. There’s a new knitting reality show that I’m obsessed with.