Becca Martin, PhD

Becca was born in Richmond, Virginia. She completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology with Daniel Conrad studying the relationship between mast cells and myeloid derived suppressor cells in the context of allergy and cancer (VCU, 2014). During her PhD, she initially noticed that B1 B cells in her mice were making large amounts of IgE during helminth infection. This finding drove her to establish her postdoctoral project on B1 B cells and IgE production that she would eventually transition into her independent laboratory. During her postdoctoral period, she was awarded an Institutional Research and Academic Career Award Fellowship (IRACDA). Through this fellowship, she gained valuable teaching and mentoring skills, as well as a community of researchers through the VCU Center for Health Disparities (COHD). Becca opened her lab at VCU in 2018, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She is also the Director of the Flow Cytometry Shared Resource in the Massey Cancer Center. Her current work focuses on the key mechanisms responsible for the initiation of asthma and allergic diseases. Through this work she hopes to discover targetable mechanisms that will eventually help asthma and allergy sufferers. She also enjoys teaching sections in the various Immunology courses offered to medical students, dental hygiene students, graduate students, and certificate students. She is currently course director of Current Topics in Immunology (MICR694), the immunology-focused journal club course. In the lab, Becca still works at the bench and enjoys helping out with every project. Out of the lab, she enjoys painting large murals and paddleboarding.