I am a Postdoctoral Scholar studying antibiotic resistance in the ESKAPE pathogens in the laboratory of Prof. Victor Nizet.Focus projects1. Discover and evaluate synergistic antibiotic combinations with efficacy against MDR pathogens. a. Utilize workflow and high-throughput methods that I have developed to explore how antibiotics interact with each other. b. Assess the the utility of identified antibiotic combinations in murine models (pneumonia, sepsis, and wound infection) of bacterial infections. c. Employ microbiological, immunological, biochemical, and pharmacological techniques and principles to define the mechanistic basis for the identified antibiotic interaction.2. Determine interactions between host factors and antibiotics that enhance treatment efficacy. a. Uncover antibiotic-host interactions against MDR pathogens using blended microbiological and physiological conditions b. Determine the mechanistic basis for the host-antibiotic interactions using microbiological, immunological, biochemical, and pharmacological techniques c. Improve antibiotic treatment efficacy in patients through exploiting identified drug-host interactions.http://nizetlab.ucsd.edu/people/Nick.html

Ph.D. in Microbiology thesis work carried out on Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the laboratory of Prof. Anthony Baughn at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.Focus Project1. Explore the mechanistic basis for pyrazinamide activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.a. Assessed and refuted multiple previously published models for the mechanism of action of pyrazinamide.b. Uncovered a antagonistic relationship between the vitamin B5 precursor panthoenate metabolite and the activity of pyrazinamide.c. Identified an aspect of the innate immune host response that was essential for the bactericidal activity of pyrazinamide

Obtained a Masters degree in Biology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in the laboratory of Prof. Gary Dunny.Focus Project1. Evaluated the potential for human derived MDR Enterococcus faecalis to become re-established in the environment and serve as natural reservoirs of disease.a. Surveyed and tracked the survival of environmental strains of Enterococcus faecalis in soils and watershedsb. Determined that virulence and drug-resistance mutations associated with enhanced adaptation to human physiology concurrently caused associated environmental fitness defects that resulted in losses in competitive competency

A junior scientist at the University of Minnesota Microbiology Teaching Laboratory