“Without Seattle Milk Fund’s support I would not have been able to engage in research and make significant progress with my Bachelor’s Degree and make some cool contributions to science.”-Cristian, current University of Washington-Seattle student

Cristian is a McNair Scholar studying microbiology with an interest in public health. He hopes to go on to graduate school and receive his PhD. He works at the Center for Infectious Disease Research running his own independent project deciphering current known P.falciparum [malaria causing agent] virulence factors such as PfEMP1 proteins structure and function while the larger focus is on developing approaches to uncovering innovative immune evasion strategies to aid in vaccine design. Cristian is working simultaneously at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation conducting surveillance on dengue in addition to infectious disease modeling and forecasting.

His love for research became evident while he was a research intern at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and conducting an independent research project. Cristian aims to pursue interdisciplinary doctoral study comprising of biological sciences in combination with epidemiology and public/global health.

Cristian divides his time between research, academics, and spending time with his three-year-old daughter and wife who is also a UW student. He looks forward to coaching his daughter’s soccer team, fishing, and reading for leisure. Cristian grew up on a farm in Romania and his passion and dedication towards science paved the way to achieve an education empowering him to make a difference in peoples lives by limiting the impact of infectious diseases.