Assistant Professor

Molecular Biology

Research:

 My research uses the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system to investigate how organisms defend themselves against pathogens. My lab works with two types of natural intracellular pathogens that infect C. elegans, the Orsay virus, and fungal-related Microsporidia species, to better understand the molecular mechanisms of host defense and infection-related stress tolerance. Interest areas include: 

1. Cell/tissue non-autonomous immune coordination – how is an infection event in a specific tissue, like the intestine, communicated to other tissues in an organism? 

2. Infection-induced cellular remodeling – how do intracellular pathogens manipulate host cell function and physiology, and how does the host cope with these stresses? 

3. Evolution of immunity – how similar or different are host defense responses across distinct nematode species when infected with the same pathogens?

 

Publications:

Link to Google Scholar

Link to ORCiD

 

Contact Info

(719) 389-6812
Olin Hall #475 

 

Teaching: 

MB131 – Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology
MB201 – Laboratory in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Genetics
MB401 – Advanced Special Topics in Molecular Biology – Molecular Parasitology
MB209/399/498/499 – Mentored Research in Molecular Biology