Photo: Bryan Goodchild
Megan Orzalli, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, is one of eight recipients of the 2025 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, or PATH, award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a private foundation dedicated to advancing biomedical science by supporting research and education in the United States.
The PATH award is designed to support independent research at the critical early stages of investigators’ careers. The grant will support Dr. Orzalli’s research on the skin’s immune system and its defense against viral infections.
“One of the goals of the PATH award is to facilitate new directions in labs. With this award, we’re going to be able to try some high-risk approaches that might change the direction of what we’re working on, which is very exciting,” Orzalli said.
Orzalli and her lab members are developing three-dimensional skin-like tissues to mimic interactions between herpes simplex virus 1, the pathogen that causes recurrent cold sores, and its human host.
“The idea is that these organoid models are going to look more like what human skin looks like in real life, and we can simulate virus infections in humans using the skin organoids,” Orzalli said.
Earlier this year, Orzalli received R01 funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the immune response of keratinocytes (the predominant skin cells in the epidermis) to herpes simplex virus 1 and how the virus manipulates the cellular responses in these cells to infect humans.
Orzalli joined UMass Chan Medical School in 2019. She’s originally from Seattle and earned her bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Washington. She received her PhD in virology from Harvard University and performed postdoctoral work at Boston Children’s Hospital.
The PATH award includes $505,000 over five years. Recipients are selected following a highly competitive process. The program recognizes exceptional researchers who have demonstrated outstanding potential in unraveling the complex mechanisms and causes of infectious diseases.
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund is a leading philanthropic organization based in North Carolina. Established in 1955, the fund is committed to fostering innovation and addressing critical challenges in health and science through strategic investments and partnerships.
