Jared Popowski holds BAs in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder and an MSc in Physics from the University of British Columbia, where he applied information theory to the study of avalanching dynamics in driven glasses. As a PhD candidate in the Soft Matter Physics group at the University of Amsterdam, he will study the rheology of the airway surface liquid and of lung epithelial tissue. A fundamental understanding of how the stress response of these respiratory components changes when exposed to airborne viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 is of critical importance for future infection-mitigation strategies.