Payton Kahl successfully defended her M.S. thesis on October 3^rd, 2025 and completed the Pathology M.S. Program. Payton’s thesis is entitled Identification and Characterization of CD8 T Cell Epitopes Within an Influenza B Virus Murine Model of Infection. Her thesis work was performed in the laboratory of Dr. Kevin Legge, where she established a reliable mouse model for both lineages of influenza B virus (Victoria and Yamagata) to better understand virus-specific T cell immunity.

Influenza virus infections remain a major cause of illness and death worldwide. While both influenza A (IAV) and influenza B (IBV) viruses contribute to seasonal outbreaks, IBV accounts for nearly half of pediatric influenza-related deaths and remains under characterized due to a lack of suitable research tools. Using her newly developed murine models of infection, Payton examined the immune response in C57BL/6 mice following sublethal infection with each IBV lineage and observed an increase in antigen-experienced T cell populations within the lungs after infection.

To define the targets of these T cells, Payton utilized computational prediction software and overlapping peptide arrays to identify potential CD8 T cell epitopes within the viral hemagglutinin (HA) and nucleoprotein (NP) proteins. Her analyses revealed six previously unreported epitopes—two within HA and four within NP—capable of inducing robust CD8 T cell responses.

In summary, Payton’s thesis defines novel CD8 T cell targets within influenza B virus and provides a foundation for the development of next-generation influenza B vaccines designed to elicit strong, durable T cell immunity.

In addition to Dr. Legge, Drs. John Harty, Vladimir Badovinac, and Josalyn Cho served on Payton’s thesis committee. Additionally, she is a co-author on a recently accepted manuscript from the Jabbari Laboratory and has multiple ongoing collaborations.