Sara Sawyer, Ph.D.
Here is a profile of Dr. Sawyer in Nature
Dr. Sara Sawyer is a Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has received national and international prizes in virology. In 2011 she was awarded a PECASE by President Barack Obama at the White House. In 2022, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognized her with the Director’s “Pioneer” award.
Dr. Sawyer serves on the NIH Advisory Council for the Office of AIDS Research. In 2020, she co-founded Darwin Biosciences, an infectious disease diagnostics company located in Boulder, Colorado. She holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her current research focuses on HIV vaccine models and virus host-switching.
Professor
BioFrontiers Institute, Dept. of MCDB
University of Colorado Boulder
B.S.
Chemical Engineering
University of Kansas
Ph.D.
Genetics and Development
Cornell University
Postdoc
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Sara’s Mentors
Nguyen
Sara’s undergraduate research mentor, Dr. Trung Van Nguyen, University of Kansas, Chemical Engineering
Enos
Sara’s undergraduate mentor, Dr. Paul Enos, University of Kansas, Geology
Vogt
Sara with her first virology mentor, Dr Volker Vogt, Cornell University
Malik
Sara with her postdoctoral advisor, Dr. Harmit Malik, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle
Emerman
Sara with her postdoctoral co-advisor, Dr. Michael Emerman, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle
Eckstrand
Sara with Irene Eckstrand, the NIH program officer (now retired) that awarded her first R01.
2011 PECASE
Sara receiving 2011 PECASE from President Obama at the White House:
Message to Potential Trainees
I want to share a few words about my philosophy for anyone who may be considering joining my lab. I care about helping people develop the skills that they need in order to build a successful career. But, on a more existential level, I hope to show you that there is no finer way to live your life than engaged in a meaningful intellectual pursuit. I demand dedication and hard work, but in return you will gain my fierce loyalty to you and your career.
Although there will be obstacles, I believe that graduate school should be fun (at least most of the time). According to the Buddhists, “Happiness is the road, not the destination.”
If you would like to be a member of a team engaged in exciting and challenging research, please speak with me about possible graduate or postdoctoral research projects.
A Favorite Quote
“When I was a kid, there was really only one existential threat the world faced. The threat of a nuclear war. By the late 1990s, most reasonable people had come to accept that climate change represented another major threat to humankind.
I view the threat of deadly pandemics right up there with nuclear war and climate change.
Innovation, cooperation, and careful planning can dramatically mitigate the risks presented by each of these threats.”
– Bill Gates
A Favorite Quote
(Regarding the HIV/AIDS Pandemic)
“They’ll never know that feeling, what it’s like to love without worrying that you’re going to die… or, worse yet, that you are going to kill somebody.
I don’t know what’s shittier, having that freedom taken away or never having had it to begin with.
Either way, ain’t no going back now.”
– Pray-Tell on the FX Series “Pose”