AGENDA

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Jessica Wallace

Area of Expertise: Landscape genetics and community connectivity in the coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes Basin

First year PhD student in the Carstens lab at The Ohio State University.

Wallace.829@osu.edu

Natividad Ruiz

Area of Expertise: Envelope biogenesis in Gram-negative bacteria

Professor, Department of Microbiology, Ohio State University

Bacterial cells are surrounded by an envelope that provides structural integrity, determines cell shape, and functions as a permeability barrier. The bacterial cell envelope also mediates and determines the outcome of interactions between bacteria and the outside world. The Ruiz laboratory investigates molecular machines that build the multilayered envelope of a large group of bacteria known as Gram-negative bacteria using Escherichia coli as a model system. The Gram-negative envelope is delimited by two membranes, the inner membrane, which surrounds the cytoplasm, and the outer membrane, which is in contact with the environment. Since lipids are synthesized in the inner membrane, cells must transport them across the cell envelope to build their outer membrane. Most of our research is currently focused on studying the mechanism of function of lipid transporters that are essential for the biogenesis of the outer membrane using genetic and biochemical approaches.

ruiz.82@osu.edu

https://microbiology.osu.edu/people/ruiz.82

Matt Anderson

Area of Expertise: Phenotypic consequences of genomic variation

Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Ohio State University

Dr. Anderson’s research program focuses on deciphering the mechanisms of genome evolution in the human commensal and the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans. This relies on a combination of experimental and informatic analysis to determine how genetic changes between strains result in altered phenotypes related to pathogenesis and/or persistence. More recently, his group has expanded their interest in eukaryotic microbes to defining all of these organisms present in the human gut microbiome and how they may contribute to autoimmunity.

https://u.osu.edu/andersonlab/

Marta Jarzyna

Area of Expertise: Macroecology; Global change biology; Quantitative ecology

Assistant Professor, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University

Dr. Jarzyna is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology. She is a broad-scale ecologist and global change biologist interested in understanding the processes underlying biodiversity dynamics across different spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales. Marta graduated from Warsaw University of Life Sciences (B.S and M.S.), Pennsylvania State University (M.S.), and Michigan State University (Ph.D.). After graduating from MSU, she did her postdoctoral work at Yale University.

jarzyna.1@osu.edu

http://jarzynalab.com/

Patrick Ymele-Leki

Area of Expertise: Biofilm Engineering & Drug Discovery

Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Howard University

The Biofilm Engineering and Drug Discovery (BEDD) research program focuses on (i) developing screening assays for the identification of novel small molecules with antimicrobial activity, and (ii) studying microbial models that are relevant in clinical, industrial and environmental settings. Long-term goals are to enhance the current arsenal of antimicrobial agents and further our understanding of complex microbial communities. Current projects include (i) the investigation of biofilm structural features in fluid flows and their impact on the efficacy of known antimicrobial agents; (ii) the evaluation of potential antimicrobial challenges for in situ biofilm control; and (iii) the analysis of microbial mechanisms for iodate reduction and iodine speciation.

Janelle Burke

Area of Expertise: Plant systematics and plant evolutionary biology

Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University

stacy farina

Stacy Farina

Area of Expertise: Diversity and biomechanics of gill chambers in fishes

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University

MEET THE CO-ORGANIZERS

Courtney Robinson

Area of Expertise: Microbial ecology and Environmental microbiology

Associate Professor and Director of HHMI PHAGES Program, Department of Biology, Howard University

Zakee Sabree

Area of Expertise: Insect-microbe symbioses; Microbial ecology and genome evolution

Associate Professor, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University

Faculty Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, Ohio State University

Our group is interested in the functional and trophic relationships that forge intimate host-microbe interactions and shape bacterial communities, and the evolutionary outcomes of these symbioses.

Two main questions guide our current research:

1) how are symbiotic microbes employed by their hosts to obtain essential nutrients and facilitate trophic niche expansions

2) what are the structural and functional impacts of ancient and obligate associations with eukaryotes on the genomes, genes and gene products of their bacterial partners

Insects are the focus of my research because they are ubiquitous, participate significantly in biomass turnover and maintain, often simultaneously, various types of symbioses with microbes.

We employ legacy microbiological tools as well as current and emergent molecular and genomics techniques to address several specific aspects of these questions.

https://u.osu.edu/sabreelab/

sabree.8@osu.edu