Congratulations to Mohammad Heidarian, MSc, a doctoral student in Vladimir Badovinac, PhD's research laboratory, who has been awarded the Ballard & Seashore Dissertation Fellowship by the Graduate College for the Fall 2026 semester. The Ada Louise Ballard & Seashore Dissertation Fellowship is awarded to students during their final semester, providing protected and supported time to focus on completing their scholarly research activities and the writing of their dissertation.

Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation is widely used in the treatment of solid tumors but can also damage healthy tissues and suppress immune function. One major consequence is the acute loss of immune cells, especially lymphocytes, which can limit the efficacy of radiotherapy and reduce overall survival. Heidarian's dissertation delves into the long-term consequences of high-dose ionizing radiation on CD8+ T cells and the lasting impact of radiation exposure on the maintenance, differentiation, and function of these cells in the context of antiviral immunity and immunotherapy.

Heidarian represents the second student from the Experimental Pathology PhD Program to receive this award. The Experimental Pathology PhD Graduate Program is centered in the Department of Pathology and is a member of the Biomedical Science Graduate Program in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. The Experimental Pathology program was established in 2020 and has quickly grown, with three students already graduated and seven students currently enrolled and performing their PhD thesis research.