![]() | Yoshitomo KikuchiCurrent Position: Senior Scientist, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) |
![]() | Rita RioCurrent Position: Associate Professor West Virginia University |
![]() | Josh FaucherCurrent Position: Undergraduate Student |
![]() | Veronica DejesusCurrent Position: Undergraduate Student |
![]() | Viyath FernandoCurrent Position: Undergraduate Student |
![]() | Barbara LeVargeCurrent Position: Resident, Harvard Medical School |
![]() | Maria ShakerCurrent Position: Medical Student, Case Western University |
![]() | Andrew StefkaCurrent Position: Graduate Student, University of Kentucky |
![]() | Cindy GodeCurrent Position: Graduate Student, University of Iowa |
![]() | Alison LauferCurrent Position: CDC, Atlanta, Georgia |
![]() | Adam SilverCurrent Position: Assistant Professor, University of Hartford |
![]() | Chadene ZackCurrent Position: Graduate Student, Boston College |
![]() | Alex ReissCurrent Position: Postdoc, UConn |
![]() | Michele MaltzCurrent Position: Assistant Professor, Southern Connecticut State University |
![]() | Mike NelsonCurrent Position: Bioinformatician II at Sema4 Genomics, a Mount Sinai venture |
![]() | Jon HillCurrent Position: Research Associate II, Boehringer Ingelheim |
![]() | Lindsey BomarCurrent Position: Post Doc, Foresyth Institute |
![]() | Sophia ColstonCurrent Position: Postdoctoral fellow at Navy Research Laboratory |
![]() | Jacqui BenjaminoCurrent Position: Postdoctoral fellow at JAX Genomic Medicine. My research focuses on the gut microbial community of the termite, Reticulitermes flavipes. R. flavipes feeds solely on nutrient-poor lignocellulosic food sources and relies completely on the gut protists, bacteria, and archaea for digestion and nutrient acquisition. There have been about 13 reported protist species, hundreds of bacterial OTUs, and a few archaeal OTUs present in the termite hindgut, but little is known about the physiology of these individuals and my work has sought to find these answers. The overall bacterial communities remain stable within a colony, with slight differences between colonies and castes (function-specific termites in a colony). When fed different wood-types, the bacterial communities shift in the hindgut, and some members of the community are affected by low-abundant taxonomic shifts. Currently, I am utilizing whole-genome and whole-transcriptome amplification and sequencing to study the physiology of the bacteria associated with single protists. |
![]() | Meredith MistrettaMy first project involved experimentally evolving the native Aeromonas veronii, Hm21S, within the leech as it competed against invasive species. These invasive species are not typically found within the leech crop, but can become established members after the native community is disturbed. By evolving A. veronii Hm21, I determined some of the characteristics that are positively selected for in the more complex community compared to the simple, native community. My second project involved raising leeches with and without Aeromonas veronii within the crop, to determine the role of this member in growth and development. I have shown that without this beneficial symbiont, leeches lack pigmentation in their skin. Current Position: |
![]() | Natasha RabinowitzCurrent Position: Technician, Historex |
![]() | Paul WorthenCurrent Position: Diagnostic Tech, QuestDiagnostic |
![]() | Marc FantozziCurrent Position: High School Science Teacher |
![]() | Yen LemireCurrent Position: Research Associate II, UConn |
![]() | Stefan KufferCurrent Position: Ph. D. Student, University of Heidelberg |