TU’s Elana Ehrlich named Fulbright U.S. Scholar

Towson University’s Elana Ehrlich, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has been selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for 2026–27 through the Fulbright Global Scholar Award.

The prestigious honor will help Ehrlich broaden her research on Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), a virus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer most seen in people with weakened immune systems, including some cancer patients and people living with HIV.

Being named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar puts Ehrlich in a group whose distinguished alumni include 63 Nobel Prize winners and 98 Pulitzer Prize recipients.

“We proudly congratulate Dr. Elana S. Ehrlich on her selection as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2026–2027 Fulbright Global Scholar Award,” says Towson University Melanie Perreault, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “This honor reflects her commitment to advancing knowledge, fostering global collaboration and enriching the student experience at Towson University.”

KSHV has no known vaccines or cures, so there is a need for novel treatments and strategies.

Ehrlich has been studying the disease since she was a postdoctoral researcher. Through her work at TU, she and her student researchers are exploring new ways to fight KSHV by targeting the human cells the virus relies on to survive and reproduce rather than targeting the virus itself.

Through the Fulbright Program, Ehrlich will work with some of the world's top researchers to learn more about KSHV.

As part of the award, starting in the spring and continuing for four months, she will travel to the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Japan. There, she will learn a cutting-edge technique to selectively remove proteins the virus depends on to replicate, helping researchers better understand how KSHV spreads and survives.

She will then spend two months at the University of Helsinki in Finland, where she will use advanced 3D cell models that mimic human tissue to study how Kaposi’s sarcoma—a cancer of the blood vessels and lymph nodes—develops.

Ehrlich will also engage with communities beyond the lab, enriching her research and broader academic and cultural contributions. She will bring those experiences back to Towson University, enhancing research capacity and creating additional training opportunities for students.

Bringing this type of research back to TU allows us to not only keep trying to learn about this virus but also helps us push our students’ careers forward.

Elana Ehrlich

The techniques and collaborations she develops during her time abroad will also create new opportunities for TU student researchers in her lab.

“Bringing this type of research back to TU allows us to not only keep trying to learn about this virus but also helps us push our students’ careers forward,” Ehrlich says. “They’re not only going to be able to help with this virus, but they’re going to talk about it proficiently and be able to earn jobs or join Ph.D. programs.”  

Ehrlich will be the 40^th TU professor named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar since 1957. TU was named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution in 2023 and 2024.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is one of the nation’s most prestigious international exchange programs, supporting faculty and professionals as they engage in research and teaching abroad to foster mutual understanding between nations. Since 1946, it has provided more than 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad.

For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org/.