Nicole Held

Nicole Held has extensive work experience in the field of microbiology and virus-host interactions. Nicole started their career as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the University of Colorado at Boulder, working with Norman Pace and Kristi Anseth. Nicole then pursued their PhD in Microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where they focused on studying virus-host interactions and population dynamics in Sulfolobus islandicus. After completing their PhD, Nicole held two consecutive Postdoctoral Research Fellow positions at Colorado State University and the University of Missouri, where they continued researching virus-host interactions in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Following this, they worked as a Scientist in Microbiology at University Multispectral Laboratories before joining Southwest Research Institute, where they currently hold the role of Senior Research Scientist. In October 2021, they were promoted to Lead Scientist at Southwest Research Institute.

Nicole Held earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2006. Subsequently, they pursued a Master of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2006 to 2008. Finally, Nicole completed their education by obtaining a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012.