Marissa Knoll Email & Phone Number

The Respiratory virus and microbiome initiative (RVI) aims to develop the next generation sequencing methods for routine genomic surveillance of respiratory viruses and other pathogens, building on the expertise developed for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing. In this role, I will be performing research of respiratory viruses (SARS-CoV-2, influenza, RSV, and others) including genomic surveillance and phylodynamics, and developing bioinformatics pipelines to analyse these data, especially through integration with epidemiological data. In this work I will liaise with collaborators across academic and public health institutions.Lab website: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/group/respiratory-virus-and-microbiome-initiative/

Greater New York City Area

During my PhD, I was co-advised by Drs. Elodie Ghedin and David Gresham at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and used Illumina sequencing data to understand the within-host evolution of influenza A virus. My work characterized the effect that host obesity has on influenza evolution using a ferret model developed by or collaborators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I showed that obesity appears to be selecting for unique mutations compared to our lean controls. This work is currently in the process of being published. Lab websites: https://greshamlab.bio.nyu.eduhttps://ghedinlab.org

New York, United States

In addition to my teaching role, I was responsible for organizing teaching assistant meetings, coordinating student emails for ~160 students in all sections, communicating administrative aspects of the course, and reviewing final course grades.

New York, United States

Instructor for one section of ~20 students. Responsible for teaching basic laboratory safety and skills, including sterile culture, pipetting, preparing and maintaining yeast and bacterial cultures, DNA extraction and transformation, Sanger sequencing, and Illumina library preparation and sequencing. Additionally responsible for teaching theoretical background on all lab techniques, as well as how to create publication-style figures and manuscripts for the final course paper.

New York, United States

Recitation instructor for two sections of ~25 students per semester for NYU's undergraduate introductory biology course, Principles of Biology (I and II). These courses cover topics from DNA and RNA structure, replication, transcription/translation, protein structure/function, genetics, microbiology, evolution, plant and animal systems, and neurobiology.

I worked in Prof. Pat Wadsworth's lab, where we were interested in understanding mitosis, specifically through the process of spindle formation and the action of motor proteins. I was responsible for all cell culture in the lab over a summer and maintained several different mammalian cells lines, including LLC-Pk1 and HeLa lines. I was also responsible for data analysis on a project involving the yeast motor proteins, Cin8 and Kip1 and the human motor protein, Eg5. In addition I helped prepare materials for and teach a two week course for high school students about Cell Biology. Lab website: http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/wadsworth/

Amherst, Massachusetts, United States

I completed my honors thesis in Ben Normark's lab, where I organized and carried out an interdisciplinary project using flow cytometry and DNA staining to investigate the genetic system of the armored scale insect. I established new staining protocols to better visualize these insects and presented the results of my work at the annual Undergraduate Research Conference.

Amherst, Ma

I worked in Prof. Normark's laboratory, where we sought to understand the evolution of armored scale insects. These are a known pest in many regions of the world and understanding their phylogenetic relationships will allow us to develop novel techniques to control their spread. In my role, I prepared the scale insects, extracted their DNA, and mounted the insects onto slides to be preserved in the collection. Lab Website:http://people.umass.edu/bnormark/lab/Home.html

Amherst, Ma

In my role as an SI leader, I held review sessions twice a week and before exams using self-created teaching materials to enforce and enhance student learning and engagement in Introductory Biology classes.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Biology, General

Master Of Philosophy - Mphil

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Biology, General

Cum Laude Commonwealth Honors College Scholar with Great Distinction