Faculty

Yi Wang, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor
  • Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and bioprocess engineering to address critical challenges in agriculture, energy, environment, and health

Sasha Shafikhani, Ph.D.

  • Professor & Director of Microbiome Research
  • MED: Dermatology
  • School of Medicine
Research Interests: Involves leveraging insights from pathogen studies to enhance the understanding of host cellular processes. His lab primarily focuses on identifying the virulence mechanisms that drive Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis in wound infections, as well as investigating the eukaryotic host responses aimed at controlling these infections.

Vladimir Diaz-Ochoa, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor
  • VET MED: Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Research Interests: We have long appreciated the role that neutrophils play as first responders of the immune system during microbial infections. New evidence is emerging on the transcriptomic and phenotypic diversity of this highly abundant circulating white blood cell. In the Diaz-Ochoa lab we combine classical immunological techniques with a systems approach to gain mechanistic insights on the contributions of neutrophil diversity in host responses to bacterial infections.

Danielle G. Lemay, Ph.D.

  • Research Scientist
  • USDA ARS Western Nutrition Research Center
Research Interests: Diet, gut microbiome, GI health in Humans. Application of bioinformatics, ML, AI to understand the relationship of diet and/or gut microbiome with human health.

Rodolfo Urbano, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor
  • VET MED: Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Research Interests: The Urbano Lab studies microbial-host interactions that involve the actin cytoskeleton. Immune signals such as IFN-g activate host cells to fight infection by stimulating expression of cellular defenses that include actin-binding proteins (ABPs). Our lab aims to characterize the functions of these ABPs in the context of the immune response and learn how actin-based immunity impacts microbial pathogenesis and pathogen clearance. One area of active research involves the role of ABPs in microbial actin-based motility and cell-to-cell dissemination (Listeria, Shigella, Burkholderia, etc.). Additionally, ABPs are important components of the host cell adhesion and motility machinery. Here we aim to understand how immune activation modifies the mechanical properties of cells to mobilize to sites of infection, capture and eliminate microbes.

Hannah Savage, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor
  • Vet Med: Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Research Interests: The Savage lab studies interactions between pathogens, the microbiota, and host. In particular, I currently focus on how the microbiota promotes a heathy colonocyte immunometabolism and how this interaction is altered during disease, putting the host at risk of infection with pathogens and pathobionts. My overall research goal is to understand the basis behind these host-microbiota interactions during health so that host health can be supported with therapeutics during microbial disruption to prevent a loss of colonization resistance.

Simon Anthony, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor
  • VET MED: Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Dr. Anthony's research focuses on zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases, and specifically on the discovery, ecology, and evolution of viruses. He is interested in the factors that increase the risk of disease emergence in new hosts, including host or viral traits, and in the eco-evolutionary mechanisms that shape patterns of variation across scales.