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Shawn Hannah

Graduate Student

Interests

Research Interests

  • Novel Antimicrobial Therapies
  • One Health
  • Veterinary Science

At the Bench

Shawn took a unique route before ending up in Dr. Nizet's lab. She completed her B.S. at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she studied marine ecosystems. There, she served as a stranding coordinator for rescued marine mammals, where her love of veterinary care stemmed. She went on to get her Master's from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories through San Jose State, continuing her marine mammal research in diving physiology. Her love for veterinary medicine continued to grow as she worked as a veterinary assistant for three years. She worked in Dr. Nizet's lab as a staff research associate under Dr. Angela Meier and Dr. Nizet's RO1 studying therapeutic models to treat bacterial pneumonia, specifically working with nanoparticles for several years. Shawn started a PhD program in nanoengineering at UCSD to ultimately combine her research background and veterinary experience to work in veterinary science research.

Out of Lab

In her free time, Shawn's probably reading a fantasy book or watching F1, basketball, or football while having a glass of red wine. She also loves spending time with friends at the beach, eating good food, watching trash TV, or getting ice cream together.

Background and Education

Academic Appointments

Year Position
2023-Present Staff Research Associate, Department of Pediatrics at UCSD

Education

University Degree Year Field
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories at San Jose State University, Moss Landing CA M.S. 2023 Marine Sciences
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo CA B.S. 2016 Biological Sciences

Honors and Publications

Publications

Hoffman, A., Bjånes, E., Zhou, Z., Onanuga, A., Ngo, A. T., Hannah, S., Chavarria, N., Dahesh, S., Tran, B.T., Meier, A., Yu, Y., Sun, L., Zhang, L., Gao, W., Field, J.J., & Nizet, V. (2025). Natural Macrophage Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles as a Multifaceted Sepsis Therapeutic to Sequester Inflammatory and Toxic Mediators. ACS nano, 19(46), 39805-39815. 

Bjånes, E., Krishnan, N., Koh, T., Ngo, A.T.P., Cole, J., Olsen, J., Cornax, I., Chen, C., Chavarria, N., Dahesh, S., Hannah, S.M., Stream, A., Zhang,  J.A., Besançon, H., Sun, D., Yendluri, S., Morrill, S., Zhou, J., Mohapatra, A., Fang, R.H., and Nizet, V. (2025). A STING-Adjuvanted Outer Membrane Vesicle Nanoparticle Vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. JCI Insight, 10(17):e188105.

Gage, H., Hannah, S.M., Hancock, B., Cornax, I., Munguia, J., Olson, J., Bjanes, E., Zurich, R., Hoffman, A., Askarian, F., Nizet, V., and Meier, A. (2025). Ketamine and Isoflurane differentially impact survival and other relevant outcomes in an experimental model of bacterial pneumonia. BMC Infectious Diseases. 

Cooley, L.A., Hindle, A.G., Williams, C.L., Ponganis, P.J., Hannah, S.M., Klinck, H., Horning, M., Costa, D.P., Holser, R.R., Crocker, D.E., and McDonald, B.I. (2024). Physiological effects of research handling on the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 111771.

Lauer, A., Palmer, L., Kloock, C., Liwanag, H.E.M., Norris, T., McDonald, B., Muñoz, J.M., Mulcahy, C., Hannah, S., and Johnson, S. (2019). Survey for Coccidioides antibodies in blood sera from California sea lions and northern fur seals that stranded along the coast of California (2013-2015). The Journal of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society, 6: 69-81. 

Goodman, M.C., Hannah, S.M., and Ruttenberg, B.I. (2019). The relationship between geographic range extent, sea surface temperature, and adult traits in coastal temperate fishes. Journal of Biogeography, JBI-18-0207.R1.