COURSES TAUGHT

BMS 213 - Microbiology Lab
 

EDUCATION

Ph.D. (Immunobiology) University of Arizona, 2008-2013
B.A. (Biology, Writing), Anderson University, 2004-2008

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research investigates the microbial impact on immune development and function. When immune machinery functions properly, it is a potent weapon. When the machinery fails, the host is at risk for developing immune disorders like allergies and cancer. The prevalence of these immune disorders has drastically increased over the past few decades, particularly in areas with high sanitation standards and therefore decreased exposure to various microbes like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Many researchers have developed hypotheses to explain this. One popular hypothesis is the hygiene hypothesis—basically, that the increase in cleanliness can have unintended, harmful consequences to the immune system.

My lab investigates the hypothesis that microbial exposure impacts innate and adaptive immune cell numbers, activation, and function in the context of cancer. We compare the immune systems of mice with little/no microbial experience and mice with extensive microbial experience. Our lab has shown that mice with increased microbial experience have corresponding increased innate and adaptive immune activation. We recently expanded these findings to a mouse model of melanoma. Microbially experienced mice have slower tumor growth, increase time of survival, and increased tumor-infiltrating immune cells. My lab continues to use this model to investigate the immune mechanism(s) resulting in increased anti-tumor immunity.