Dr. Ballering is a senior scientist for the BioWatch program, where she supports the laboratory operations and public health and preparedness teams. She is involved in guidance development, exercises and is a subject matter expert in environmental sampling and microbiology. Dr. Ballering contributed to the CIDRAP Comprehensive Influenza Vaccine Initiative project in 2010 and 2011, focusing primarily on aspects of virology and immunology related to both current and novel influenza vaccine technology.
She graduated in 2004 with a BS in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she completed undergraduate research projects focused on both Xenorhabdus nematophilus chemotaxis and Agrobacterium tumefaciens siderophore production. Dr. Ballering received her PhD from the Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology graduate program in 2010 at the University of Minnesota. Her thesis research focused on bacterial genetics, specifically understanding the genetic components of biofilm formation in the nosocomial pathogen Enterococcus faecalis. Dr. Ballering is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Great Lakes Regional Center of Excellence (GLRCE) Biosafety Scholar/Research Program at the University of Chicago. She will complete her fellowship in December 2013.
