Through the COVID Conversations series, YJBM is preserving the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on graduate, medical, and professional students the world over. This series aims to share these stories in a way that underscores the unique humanity and shared experiences of graduate, medical, and professional students. Our ultimate hope is that in doing so, this series will culture a deeper sense of community.

Graduate school has a way of throwing curve balls at students, however, few students expect to completely change their research project entirely — especially during a pandemic. Mary Petrone, a PhD student in the Lab of Dr. Nathan Grubaugh at the Yale School of Public Health, did exactly that. In this conversation with Brian Thompson, a fellow PhD student at the Yale School of Public Health, she discusses the COVID-19 Pandemic and the implications that it has for her PhD research and career trajectory.

This has actually solidified my career path