Merigan Student Scholarship
Thomas C. Merigan, MD, Professor Emeritus of Infectious Diseases, is one of the world’s eminent virologists. In addition to pioneering research of interferon, his work produced novel treatments for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, and herpes viruses. Tom and Sue Merigan established the Sue Merigan Student Scholarship Awards to encourage undergraduates, medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and other trainees to pursue a career in infectious diseases research. Candidates are nominated by their faculty mentors and chosen by a committee of Infectious Diseases faculty, and awardees are provided up to $45,000 in support of their research.
Merigan Student Scholars
Meet the 2025-26 Recipients
Noah Cruz
Mentor: Catherine Blish
Noah is a recent graduate, a REACH Scholar, and a Merigan Scholar in the Blish Lab, conducting research focused on host-virus interactions during acute Zika Virus (ZIKV) infection.
Using samples from a ZIKV-infected Panamanian cohort, Noah is examining the functionality of natural killer (NK) cells during infection and defining critical receptor-ligand interactions that mediate NK cell recognition of ZIKV-infected cells.
This work will improve our understanding of NK cell responses to ZIKV, inform vaccine design, and potentially reveal novel therapeutic targets for ZIKV and similar infections.
Tom C. Quach
Mentor: Hector Bonilla
Tom Quach, BS-BA ’24, MS ’25, is a dedicated community health advocate passionate about community-engaged research and healthcare alongside underserved populations.
As a 2025-26 Merigan scholar, Tom looks forward to working with the Bonilla Lab, Stanford Long COVID Clinic, and affiliated translational science labs to explore biomarkers and therapeutics for Long COVID.
He hopes that his upcoming research progress will help advance clinical care for this condition as well as related post-viral syndromes
Morgan Schillinger Tarpenning
Mentor: Joelle Ivy Rosser
Morgan is a recent Stanford undergraduate working in the Rosser Lab studying trash management in Makassar, Indonesia, with a focus on how plastic trash creates breeding sites for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
By assessing community knowledge and practices regarding the health risks of trash, this work will establish a foundation for developing and scaling effective trash reduction strategies to disrupt disease transmission.
