Bacteriology | Research Interests

Name	Email	PhD Program
Bhatt, Urja EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Immunology, Virology	“1) Viral and non-viral Gene therapy 2) Applying single-cell multi-omics technology to learn about gene expression during viral infection and disease pathology 3) Infectious diseases and development of novel vaccine platforms”
Hand, Emily EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Translational Medicine	“I am interested in the intersection of microbial pathogenesis and translational/public health applications. Broadly, this includes infectious diseases, the microbiome, translational/clinical research, and epidemiology.”
Ogrodniczuk, Marcin EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Pathology	“I’m interested in microbiology and infectious disease research. I am particularly interested in the use of animal models to understand immune system mechanisms.”
DiMaulo-Milk, Emily EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Immunology, Virology	“I’m interested in understanding the mechanism by which pathogens cause disease and evade immune response. Ultimately, I am hoping to provide the foundation for improving current therapeutics designed to combat viral infection.”
Rueppell, Anika EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Immunology, Pathogenesis & Infection	“I am interested in exploring how host immune systems and infectious agents affect one another and how these interactions impact disease outcomes. Some questions that interest me include how immune responses to pathogens can increase symptoms or change disease outcomes, how pathogens can take advantage of altered/compromised immunity, and how the combined variability of pathogen populations and human immunity can cause variable disease states. In particular, I am interested in bacteria in the respiratory and/or gastrointestinal systems.”
Bartelt, Luther WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Antibiotics/Antivirals, Bacteriology, Immunology, Metabolism, Microbiome, Model Organisms, Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, Translational Medicine, Virology	Our lab performs translational investigations of nutritional and microbiota determinants of host-pathogen interactions. We use gnotobiotic techniques (eg. germ free) mice to investigate complex microbe-microbe interactions in the context of host malnutrition, a common but poorly understood global health problem. Specific pathogens we model include Giardia (a ubiquitous parasite with unclear mechanisms of pathogenesis) and other intestinal parasites and multi drug resistant Enterobacterales (eg. Klebsiella). We work with several collaborators to translate findings in experimental models to outcomes in human cohorts. Emerging projects include determinants of host immune responses to mucosal viral infections and vaccines (eg. Polio and SARS-CoV-2).
Rowe-Conlon, Sarah WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Antibiotics/Antivirals, Bacteriology, Diabetes, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Pathogenesis & Infection, Pharmacology, Translational Medicine	My lab studies recalcitrant bacterial infections and antibiotic treatment failure. Focusing on bacteremia and wound infection, we utilize a range of in vitro, tissue culture and mouse models to understand the precise nature of treatment failure and exploit this knowledge to modulate antibiotic activity in the host environment. My long-term goal is to bring improved therapeutic strategies to the bedside.
Rosenthal, Adam WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Molecular Biology, Pathogenesis & Infection, Systems Biology	Our lab uses a systems biology approach to study phenotypic heterogeneity in bacteria. We develop tools that quantify single cell bacterial transcription. We then compare dynamic measurements during vegetative growth and infection to identify regulators of gene expression and mechanisms that bacteria use to coordinate community organization. With this data we want to understand the role of heterogeneity and noise in infectious disease.
Thurlow, Lance EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Cell Signaling, Immunology, Metabolism, Pathogenesis & Infection	By 2035, more than 500 million people worldwide will be diagnosed with diabetes. Individuals with diabetes are prone to frequent and invasive infections that commonly manifest as skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Staphylococcus aureus is the most commonly isolated pathogen from diabetic SSTI. S. aureus is a problematic pathogen that is responsible for tens of thousands of invasive infections and deaths annually in the US. Most S. aureus infections manifest as skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) that are usually self-resolving. However, in patients with comorbidities, particularly diabetes, S. aureus SSTIs can disseminate resulting in systemic disease including osteomyelitis, endocarditis and sepsis. The goal of my research is to understand the complex interactions between bacterial pathogens and the host innate immune response with focus on S. aureus and invasive infections associated with diabetes. My research is roughly divided into two project areas in order to understand the contributions of the pathogen and the host response to invasive infections associated with diabetes. Project 1: Defining mechanisms of immune suppression in diabetic infections. Project 2: Determine the role of bacterial metabolism in virulence potential and pathogenesis.
Azcarate-Peril, M. Andrea WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Nutrition RESEARCH INTEREST Bacteriology, Bioinformatics, Genomics, Molecular Biology, Systems Biology	We are interested in determining the mechanisms involved in the beneficial modulation of the gut microbiota by prebiotics (functional foods that stimulate growth of gut native beneficial bacteria) and probiotics (live bacteria that benefit their host). Specifically, we aim to develop prebiotic and probiotic interventions as alternatives to traditional treatments for microbiota-health related conditions, and to advance microbiota-based health surveillance methods.

Research Interest: Bacteriology