Congratulations to Graduate Student Kristina Delgado for receiving first place for best poster presentation at the 2023 Graduate Student Research Day.   Kristina’s project centers around the development of a vaccine against Treponema pallidum (Tp), the causative agent of syphilis. With the guidance and support of her mentors, Drs. Justin Radolf and Kelly Hawley, and in collaboration with the Spirochete Research Laboratories, Kristina employs a learning-from-nature approach that exploits the ability of Tp-infected rabbits to clear syphilitic infection. Kristina's project focuses on dissecting the antigenic profile of the Tpß-barrel-forming outer membrane proteins (OMPs), specifically the surface-exposed extracellular loops, to inform vaccine candidate selection. Kristina’s achievements not only advance our understanding of the antibody response elicited by Tp, they also could revolutionize strategies for development of a much-needed, globally efficacious syphilis vaccine.