Rate My Professor Virginia Schmit

Virginia Schmit holds a B.S. from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, an M.S. from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming. Following her doctoral studies, she served as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Katju Research Group in the Department of Biology at the University of New Mexico. Her early research focused on infectious diseases, particularly Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. She conducted studies on temporal gene expression during persistent infections, surface-localized proteins conserved across Borrelia species, transcriptome analysis during association with human neuroglial cells, and surface proteins as determinants in host cell interactions.

Schmit has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications demonstrating impact in microbiology and diagnostics. Prominent works include 'Temporal Expression Analysis of the Borrelia burgdorferi Paralogous Gene Family 54 Genes BBA64, BBA65, and BBA66 during Persistent Infection in Mice' (Infection and Immunity, 2007, 67 citations), 'Borrelia burgdorferi Surface-Localized Proteins Expressed during Persistent Murine Infection Are Conserved among Diverse Borrelia spp.' (Infection and Immunity, 2008, 43 citations), 'Borrelia burgdorferi expression of the bba64, bba65, bba66, and bba73 genes in tissues during persistent infection in mice' (Microbial Pathogenesis, 2008, 40 citations), 'Global Transcriptome Analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi during Association with Human Neuroglial Cells' (Infection and Immunity, 2008, 31 citations), 'Analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi Surface Proteins as Determinants in Establishing Host Cell Interactions' (Frontiers in Microbiology, 2011, 29 citations), and 'Wild felids as hosts for human plague, Western United States' (Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2009, 22 citations). She contributed to innovative diagnostics with 'Lab-on-a-bubble surface enhanced Raman indirect immunoassay for cholera' (Analytical Chemistry, 2012, 64 citations). More recently, as part of 1Day Sooner, her research addresses bioethics in vaccine development through publications like 'A systematic review of human challenge trials, designs, and safety' (Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2023, 49 citations) and 'Exploring risks of human challenge trials for COVID-19' (Risk Analysis, 2021, 33 citations).