I graduated from Michigan Tech University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences (1998) and Miami University with a Ph.D. in Microbiology (2004). Currently, my research in Dr. McCormick’s laboratory in the Mucosal Immunology Department focuses on the highly specific relationship between the enteric pathogen, Shigella, and the human intestinal epithelium. We have identified a number of key components of the Shigella-host relationship that may explain some of the host adaptation exhibited by this organism, as well as fundamental mechanisms of its pathogenicity. We aim to better understand the molecular mechanisms of the Shigella-intestinal epithelial interaction that lead to acute infectious colitis so that novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of this disease can be developed.
BioSketch:
March 2004 – present Post-doctoral Fellow
Mucosal Immunology/Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Fall 1998 – February 2004 Ph.D. candidate
Department of Microbiology, Miami University, Oxford, OH
Ph.D. Thesis: "Determination of degradative gene frequencies: Applications in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminated sediments" with Robert H. Findlay (advisor).
