Jasmal Cruz, Olivia Sullivan and Abigail Mathis have been awarded small grants to support their dissertation work. These grants are designed to assist graduate students conducting scholarly or creative projects as part of their culminating program requirements. A summary of each project is listed below.
Jasmal Cruz
Program: Biology, M.S. (Microbiology)
Title: Characterization of a Novel Compound from Klebsiella
Committee Chair: Dr. Sean Fox
Our laboratory has identified an antimicrobial protein secreted by the bacterium Klebsiella. This antimicrobial possesses inhibitory effects towards the highly drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae family of bacteria. My thesis research focuses on the isolation and purification of the antimicrobial. The purified antimicrobial will be characterized for efficacy and stability. We plan to identify the antimicrobial genetically through sequencing and produce the antimicrobial in an expression system . Lastly, we will introduce the antimicrobial into a living system to attempt to inhibit an infection. It is our hopes that this antimicrobial will prove to work independently or synergistically with antibiotics to eradicate drug-resistant infections.
Olivia Sullivan
Program: Public Health, Dr.P.H. (Community Health)
Title: Health Care Access Barriers Among Sexual Minority Peripregnant People in the
Appalachian Highlands
Committee Chair: Dr. Roger Blackwell
The purpose of this dissertation research is to identify healthcare access barriers faced by sexual minority peripregnant people in the 21 counties that comprise the Appalachian Highlands in order to improve the health of sexual minority people and their families in this region.
Abigail Pyburn
Program: Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D. (Immunology, Inflammation and Infectious Diseases)
Title: Role of the virulence protein STM3615 in Salmonella physiology
Committee Chair: Dr. Erik Petersen
My project focuses on STM3615, a cyclic-di-GMP phosphodiesterase. Our main focus is to characterize its role in Salmonella's physiology. When knocked out, it seems to affect cell morphology/ cellular division. Our working hypothesis is that STM3615 interacts with a periplasmic protein partner to directly or indirectly stimulate the Rcs pathway in order to modulate cellular division/ morphology. To better characterize STM3615's role, we plan to develop complete knock out strains and complementation vectors, and to utilize the BACTH system to determine what STM3615 is interacting with.