Bio

My past research experiences have spanned the fields of molecular microbiology, protein biochemistry, microbial ecology, and bacterial pathogenesis. This multi-disciplinary training has fostered an ability to think outside the box in developing new approaches to understand mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis. As an undergraduate researcher at the University of Georgia I studied the presence and absence of Desulfovibrio in the intestinal tracts of primates exposed to elemental mercury. After graduating from UGA, I went to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. At CDC I was able to work with NARMS, the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, and work on a collection of clinical enteric pathogen isolates from around the United States. My graduate work was a departure from working with intestinal pathogens and was focused on characterizing metalloproteases in Archaeal organisms. During my graduate career at North Carolina State University, I worked closely with the Army Research Office to engineer proteins from Pyrococcus species for stable and long term detoxification of nerve agents. The training in biochemistry and protein structure has been valuable in my current research, analyzing the structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract and its role in Clostridium difficile pathogenesis.

To build upon my prior research training and to contribute to public health research, I went to the University of Michigan to complete my postdoctoral training with Dr. Vincent Young, a leader in the field of microbial ecology and bacterial pathogenesis. My research is multidisciplinary and collaborative, bridging basic research with translational research. My postdoctoral research training has focused on exploring the interplay between the gastrointestinal tract microbiota and the pathogen C. difficile, a significant and re-emerging public health problem. C. difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated colitis, and is responsible for significant morbidity, mortality, and increased healthcare costs. My research has shown that antibiotics disrupt the indigenous gut microbiota reducing resistance to C. difficile colonization. My broad research career goal is to understand the complex interactions among the gastrointestinal microbiota, pathogens, and the host. I am currently focused on characterizing these mechanisms with respect to antibiotic usage. To accomplish my research goals I integrate data obtained from high-throughput methods that analyze the gastrointestinal microbiome, metabolome and host immune responses in animal models and human biological specimens to model these interactions.

Area(s) of Expertise

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS, GASTROENTEROLOGY, GLOBAL HEALTH, INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• Identifying the role of the gastrointestinal tract microbiome and metabolome in shaping colonization resistance against Clostridium difficile
• Clostridium difficile physiology and pathogenesis
• Metabolism of bile acids by the indigenous gastrointestinal microbiota

Publications

• Bile acid dependent attenuation of toxin mediated disease is independent of colonization resistance against C. difficile , bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026)
• Successful fecal microbiota transplants in post-antibiotic treated recurrent Clostridioides difficile patients induce acylcarnitine and sphingolipid lipidomic shifts , Gut Microbes Reports (2026)
• Unlocking the Bile Acid Universe: Advanced Workflows and a Multidimensional Library of 280 Unique Species , bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026)
• Clostridioides difficile toxins alter host metabolic pathway and bile acid homeostasis gene expression in colonic epithelium , Infection and Immunity (2025)
• Dietary protein source alters gut microbiota composition and function , The ISME Journal (2025)
• Differential modulation of post-antibiotic colonization resistance to Clostridioides difficile by two probiotic Lactobacillus strains , mBio (2025)
• Experimental glycopeptide antibiotic EVG7 prevents recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection by sparing members of the Lachnospiraceae family , Nature Communications (2025)
• Large Quantities of Bacterial DNA and Protein in Common Dietary Protein Source Used in Microbiome Studies , PROTEOMICS (2025)
• Structure-guided design of a synthetic bile acid that inhibits Clostridioides difficile TcdB toxin , Nature Microbiology (2025)
• Successful Fecal Microbiota Transplants in Post-antibiotic Treated Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Patients Induce Acylcarnitine and Sphingolipid Lipidomic Shifts , Research Square (2025)

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