Biography:

Jordan Harris grew up in the small town of Winchendon, Massachusetts and attended Northeastern University receiving a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Here, he completed many biomedical science internships in academia and in industry focused on nanomedicine applications, including eight months at Moderna Therapeutics, where he optimized lipid nanoparticle delivery systems for vaccine and other medical applications. Throughout his time at Northeastern, Jordan decided he wanted to combine his experience in basic science with his budding passion for medicine and patient care. To achieve this goal of becoming a physician scientist, he joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Since joining the Penn MSTP, Jordan has discovered his medical passion of dermatology and his scientific passion of immunology. Combining these two interests within the Immunology graduate group, he is co-mentored by Dr. Elizabeth Grice and Dr. Taku Kambayashi to pursue a project based in cutaneous immunology within the Department of Dermatology. Specifically, his project aims to elucidate the homeostatic mechanism and function of a novel cutaneous immune circuit discovered in the Kambayashi lab whereby sebum secretion is promoted by the cytokine Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin signaling through T cells in the skin. Jordan has discovered that germ-free mice have reduced sebum secretion and is interested in the role of the skin microbiome in promoting this circuit. By learning more about this circuit, new therapeutics can be identified targeting diseases of sebum dysregulation, for which we lack effective and safe treatment options.