The Chateaubriand Fellowship

CMB (Cell and Molecular Biology) PhD Candidate, Jillian Lang, in Dr. Jan Leach‘s lab, has been awarded the prestigious Chateaubriand Fellowship from the French Embassy.

Jillian will spend four months in the lab of Dr. Valérie Verdier at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in Montpellier, France where she will use comparative genomics to characterize the phytobiomes of rice and a common invasive weed in rice ecosystems. This collaborative research will assist in unraveling the delicate balance between two closely related hosts and bacterial plant pathogens to gain insight into the evolution of their pathogenicity and the underlying mechanisms for host specificity. Jillian is a research associate and graduate student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program and will earn a dual degree from the Université of Montpellier and Colorado State University.

BSPM faculty, staff, and students would like to extend congratulations to Jillian and wish her the best of success during this fellowship!