Dr. Stephen J. Stray obtained his undergraduate training at the University of Melbourne in Australia and his PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) studying influenza virus receptors under Dr. Gillian Air. From 2006 to 2015, he worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He was promoted to associate professor in 2015. Since joining the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at UMMC in 2006, his laboratory has studied the evolution of viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Most recently, his studies have focused on using viruses as therapeutics to treat cancer. Dr. Stray is also the course director for Medical Microbiology and Immunology (Micro 611/701), Dental Microbiology and Immunology (Dent 641), and Fundamental Microbiology and Immunology (Micro 741). He is an award-winning teacher, having been honored by the Carl G. Evers Society (Hall of Fame), University of Mississippi Alumni Association Medical Chapter (Preclinical Professor of the Year), and received the Regions T.E.A.C.H. prize in 2021. Medical Microbiology and Immunology, directed by Dr. Stray, has been designated M2 Course of the Year by the Carl G. Evers Society on five occasions since 2011.