“I don’t listen to other people, which served me well.” – John Dennehy
John Dennehy is a virologist at Queens College, City University of New York and a large advocate for the disabled community. Dennehy was born born deaf and faced communication and discrimination barriers in education. Dennehy recalls a lack of accessibility and constant doubt from his teachers. Despite this, Dennehy pursed a B.S. in biology at Merrimack College, an M.A. in zoology at the University of Idaho, and a Ph.D. at Clark University. Dennehy now leads a research group studying virus evolution and viral tracking. During the COVID19 pandemic, Dennehy’s group tracked variant emergence via wastewater sampling and proposed mutations occurred in long-lasting COVID19 cases. Dennehy’s group also discovered the first evidence of the Omicron variant. As a professor, Dennehy no longer hides his disability and uses his influence to advocate for the disabled community.