Freedom Green

M.D./Ph.D. Student

About Me

Freedom, accompanied by service dog Gus Gus, completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Houston-Victoria, her Master of Research degree in Biomedical Research at Imperial College London, and then spent two and a half years studying arboviral and SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis at Baylor College of Medicine. Aside from her academic and research pursuits, Freedom is an avid and outspoken advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in STEM, and has been a veteran ambassador for Patriot PAWS Service Dogs since 2017. On the weekends, you can find Freedom curled up with a new (or old) hardback, working on her 1969 Mustang, or exploring the city with her Nikon and her four-legged sidekick.

Hobbies/Interests

Disability advocacy, veteran support, reading, classic cars, old movies, hiking and camping, photography

Research Topic

Emerging pathogens, virology, infectious disease, biosafety, biodefense

Why I chose MD/PhD

While serving as a combat medic, I quickly learned that my ability to care for my patients was limited by the availability and efficacy of current diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies. After leaving the military, I sought to address these gaps through research. However, during my time as a researcher, I realized I missed seeing patients and that I wanted a career in both science and medicine. In short, the MD/PhD path chose me, it just took me a while to figure it out!

Why I chose MD/PhD at UT Health San Antonio

I chose the STX-MSTP primarily because of the people. Alongside the remarkable research and academic opportunities, I found an incredible support system in the current students, faculty, and program administration. To me, there was no better place to pursue my training.

Post-bac work or other affiliations

Assistant Laboratory Director at Texas Children's Hospital Feigin Tower Biosafety Level 3 Facility

Research Assistant in the National School of Tropical Medicine's Translational Virology Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine

Master of Research in Biomedical Research at Imperial College London

Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Biology at University of Houston-Victoria

Education

B.A.A.S; Biology, University of Houston Victoria, 2018

M.S., Biomedical Research, Imperial College London, 2020

Publications

Feitsma, E. A., Janssen, Y. F., Boersma, H. H., van Sleen, Y., van Baarle, D., Alleva, D. G.,
Lancaster, T. M., Sathiyaseelan, T., Murikipudi, S., Delpero, A. R., Scully, M. M., Ragupathy, R., Kotha, S., Haworth, J. R., Shah, N. J., Rao, V., Nagre, S., Ronca, S. E., Green, F. M., … Zion, T.
C. (2023). A randomized phase I/II safety and immunogenicity study of the montanide-
adjuvanted SARS-COV-2 spike protein-RBD-FC vaccine, AKS-452. Vaccine, 41(13),
2184–2197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.02.057

Green, F. M. & Ronca, S. E. (2022). Safety procedures to work with West Nile virus in
Biosafety Level 3 facilities. Methods in Molecular Biology, 205–210.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2760-0_18

Nwanosike, H., Green, F. M., Murray, K. O., Weatherhead, J. E., & Ronca, S. E. (2022).
Protocol of detection of West Nile virus in clinical samples. Methods in Molecular Biology,
119–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2760-0_12

Janssen, Y. F., Feitsma, E. A., Boersma, H. H., Alleva, D. G., Lancaster, T. M., Sathiyaseelan, T.,
Murikipudi, S., Delpero, A. R., Scully, M. M., Ragupathy, R., Kotha, S., Haworth, J. R., Shah, N.
J., Rao, V., Nagre, S., Ronca, S. E., Green, F. M., Aminetzah, A., Sollie, F., … Zion, T. C.
(2022). Phase I interim results of a phase I/II study of the IGG-FC Fusion COVID-19 subunit
vaccine, AKS-452. Vaccine, 40(9), 1253–1260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.043

Alleva, D. G., Delpero, A. R., Scully, M. M., Murikipudi, S., Ragupathy, R., Greaves, E. K.,
Sathiyaseelan, T., Haworth, J. R., Shah, N. J., Rao, V., Nagre, S., Lancaster, T. M., Webb, S. S.,
Jasa, A. I., Ronca, S. E., Green, F. M., Elyard, H. A., Yee, J., Klein, J., … Zion, T. C. (2021).
Development of an IGG-FC Fusion COVID-19 subunit vaccine, AKS-452. Vaccine, 39(45),
6601–6613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.09.077