University of Missouri

Biography

Wendy Picking is developing prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to bacterial pathogens that cause enterica and respiratory infections. These vaccines are based on protein antigens and are formulated into a multimeric presentation to begin to mimic the appearance of the bacterial pathogen to the host immune system.

Picking was born in Lincoln, KS in north central Kansas. After growing up on the farm, she attended the University of Kansas where she received a BA in biochemistry and PhD in molecular genetics. She completed post-doctoral training at University of Texas in Austin and Washington University in St. Louis studying molecular biology and pathogenesis.

After securing NIH funding as a research assistant professor at KU, she was promoted to associate professor with tenure at Oklahoma State University in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She was then promoted to full professor with tenure at KU School of Pharmacy where she began developing the protein subunit vaccines. She became a MizzouForward Professor in Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine where she maintains an active lab in Bond LSC.