Mark Dittmar is a second year PhD student in the Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BS in biological science from Rowan University and worked as a research specialist at the University of Pennsylvania for three years before applying to graduate school. He studies emerging RNA viruses and is interested in discovering novel antiviral therapeutics against them using high-throughput screening approaches. In his free time, he enjoys playing board games and video games and tinkering with computers and other electronics.