Alicia Holmgren Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program B.A., Biology, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN Email: alicia.marie.holmgren@drexel.edu Status: 1st Year Ph.D. Student

Background and Interests:

I was born and raised in North Dakota. I attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where I received my BA in Biology Honors. While at Concordia I had the opportunity to do a summer research project which focused on finding, sequencing and comparing the pilin genes of Neisseria. This research project was the point I realized how much I loved being in the lab and that I wanted to continue on to graduate school. Following graduation I followed my husband and his career which took us to Mississippi for 6 months and then to Germany for 3 years. In Kaiserslautern, Germany, I volunteered doing research for 1 ½ years along side cell biology graduate students at Kaiserslautern Technische Universitaet. During my time there we worked on the effects of nitrous oxide on macrophages. My last year and a half in Germany was spent working for the US Army Department of Laboratory Sciences testing water samples from all over the world for contamination. I am very excited to be here at Drexel pursuing my goal of getting my Ph.D.