Hannah W. Despres, PhD

Detail-oriented professional with exceptional communication and project management skills, recognized for a proactive approach in identifying and addressing challenges. Expertise in fostering collaboration and driving successful outcomes through strategic planning and innovative problem-solving. Committed to promoting health equity and accessibility. Strong advocate for leveraging diverse perspectives to enhance project effectiveness and community impact.

Certifications

Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute- Anticipated completion January 2026

Skills

Communication: grant writing | written/verbal communication | copy-editing

Organizational: project management | team management | documentation

Scientific: conducting research projects | literature review | risk-assessment | high-containment infectious disease

• University of Vermont, Doctoral Student Representative, 2020-09, 2023-08
• University of Vermont, Career Mobility Committee President, 2021-07, 2024-01
• UVM Extension/4-H, Co-Founder/Curriculum Developer, 2021, 2022

Opening Influenza Research Fellowship | January 2023
Fellowship and training opportunity provided by the Center for Open Science (COS) and Flu Lab to be educated on open science best practices with the aim of bringing these practices back to the field of influenza research.

American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship | January 2023 – December 2024
Title: Finding the variance in the variants: Investigating differences in fitness between SARS-CoV-2 lineages
Grant Number: 23PRE1020524

Training Program in Vaccinology Postdoctoral Fellowship | September 2024 – July 2026

Awarded from the Center of Vaccine Development & Gobal Health at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Award Number: T32AI007524

Complete list can be found at my ORCiD

• Despres HW, Mills MG, Shirley DJ, Schmidt MM, Huang ML, Jerome KR, Greninger AL, Bruce EA. Quantitative measurement of infectious virus in SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Delta and Epsilon variants reveals higher infectivity (viral titer:RNA ratio) in clinical samples containing the Delta and Epsilon variants. PNAS. 2022. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116518119. Accepted January 2022
• Despres, HW, Mills MG, Schmidt MM, Gov J, Perez Y, Jindrich M, Crawford AML, Kohl WT, Rosenblatt E, Kubinski HC, ... Bruce EA. Surveillance of Vermont wildlife in 2021-2022 reveals no detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. Scientific Reports. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39232-0. Accepted September 2023
• Despres HW, Kubinski HC, Johnson BA, et al. Variant mutation G215C in SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid enhances viral infection via altered genomic encapsidation. PLoS Biol. 2025;23(4):e3003115. Published 2025 Apr 29. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3003115. Accepted April 2025