My doctoral work in the Camilli lab focused on elucidating mechanisms of pathogenesis and transmission of the bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. • Identified mechanisms of desiccation tolerance using high-throughput sequencing• Engineered over 80 bacterial strains of S. pneumoniae and E. coli• Initiated a collaboration with the Rosch lab at St. Jude’s Research Hospital• Executed a vaccine trial in mice to assess 8 Pneumococcal surface proteins for efficacy against lung infection, which required intraperitoneal and sublingual mouse vaccination, and animal infection models

• Investigated mechanisms of aneuploidy and chromosome instability in cancer development• Obtained and analyzed time-lapse fluorescence microscopy images• Quantified protein expression using western blotting and RNA interference knockdowns

• Trained 10 students on cell biology techniques and concepts• Prepared reagents and lecture for weekly lab sections

• Instructed 30-50 students per week on core concepts in genetics and cell biology • Produced weekly worksheets and practice exams• Developed creative educational techniques to aid students in subject comprehension

• Used budding yeast as a model system to study DNA damage repair• Engineered 23 cell lines of adaptation-defective mutants• Quantified adaptation deficiencies using a budding assay by aligning cells with a micro-needle

• Engineered 6 new cell lines of STAT3 mutants to study the anti-inflammatory role of STAT3 after stimulation with endotoxin (LPS)• Performed qPCR to quantify cytokine expression from murine embryonic fibroblasts• Contributed to a publication (Zhang, et al. (2014) STAT3 restrains RANK-and TLR4-mediated signalling by suppressing expression of the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Ubc13. Nat. comm.)