Current Postdoctoral Scholars

My research goal is to characterize and understanding how F-box proteins function in Toxoplasma gondii. Our knowledge about this class of proteins in the parasitology field is vastly unexplored. Therefore, completion of this goal will unveil novel molecular mechanisms that are present in T. gondii but absent in humans.

The major goal of my research is to reveal the mechanisms of cancer initialization and development. For this aim, I use advanced computational algorithms to deeply analyze into multi-omics cancer genetic data.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are one of the most common nosocomial infections worldwide and represents a significant healthcare burden. CAUTI is often a polymicrobial disease, where a patient is infected with multiple uropathogens. Thus, my research focuses primarily on investigations into the polymicrobial interactions occurring in CAUTI.

The major goal of my research is to determine the mechanisms by which the African protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei is able to differentially edit several mitochondrial transcripts between the two major developmental forms of the parasite that are found in the tsetse fly insect vector and in the mammalian bloodstream.

The overall goal of my research is to characterize age-driven changes in the host neutrophil (PMN) function during S.pneumoniae (pneumococcal) infection. I am particularly interested in identifying the changes in the transcriptome induced by pneumococcal infection in the host PMNs. This will provide insight into the signaling pathways that are critical for host response and those dysregulated in the aged population. Future work will also be aimed at transcriptomic analysis to identify S.pneumoniae genes which are up- or down-regulated in a niche- and time-specific manner during pathogenesis in mice infection model.

My research focuses on elucidating the role of Serine incorporator 5 (SERINC5); a plasma membrane protein in restricting retrovirus infection in vivo.

My research focuses on developing algorithms and mathematical models to address biological problems. Major areas of interest include computational cancer genomics and sequence analysis.