Ted grew up in South Jersey and traveled all the way across the Delaware to study Chemistry and Biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania in the Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences. He then matriculated into the MSTP at Penn, where he completed a PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Beatrice Hahn studying novel pathways of HIV-1 immune evasion from host B and T cell responses. It was during this time that he discovered his passion for studying host-pathogen interactions and decided to pursue Infectious Disease training. Following his post-doctoral training, Ted hopes to continue studying host-pathogen interactions and contribute to the development of vaccines and therapeutics.