PhD student

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Department:

Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology

Classification:

Graduate Assistant

Research Interests

I am a graduate student in the Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology Department. I graduated from Washington & Jefferson College with a B.A. in Neuroscience. In the Damron-Barbier lab, I study the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica and Bordetella pertussis. Bordetella bronchiseptica causes the disease kennel cough in warm blooded animals while Bordetella pertussis is the bacterium responsible for whooping cough in humans. My project with bronchiseptica involves developing a more efficacious vaccine for preventing bronchiseptica infections in companion animals as well as livestock. My other research interest focuses on pertussis infections, and how they could potentially contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis.

Research Experience

• Understanding gene expression of B. pertussis infection in vivo through RNA sequencing
• Evaluating efficacy of several vaccines combating B. pertussis and B. bronchiseptica infection in unique murine models
• Utilizing the novel hand-held Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencer and applying this new product to different avenues of bacterial pathogenesis research

What I like to do…

When I am not in the lab, I love to work out, whether it be getting SWOL at Body Pump classes at the Rec Center or playing basketball in the gym. In the winter, I love attempting to snowboard, but sadly, I spend most of my time eating snow than actually riding. In the summer, I love being outdoors. In the past two summers, I have been learning how to white water kayak and have been on some awesome white-water adventures and cannot wait to go on more! Most of all, I love chilling and doing fun things with the awesome people in my life!