(2aw) Genetically Engineered Commensal Bacteria As Theranostic Probes for the Lungs

My overarching research interest is using protein engineering and synthetic biology techniques to engineer bacteria for applications in healthcare. There has been sustained interest in the use of bacteria to both detect and treat disease. However, previous efforts have utilized pathogenic or laboratory bacteria, and administered them orally to the gastrointestinal tract or injected them intravenously. In contrast, my current research aims to develop well studied and safe commensal bacteria as theranostic probes in the lungs. Lungs form an extensive interface with our environment, and are thus a frequent site of disease. Though they were recently shown to accommodate many commensal bacteria, the re-tooling of these bacteria for healthcare applications is un-explored. Using immune competent mouse models, my research team has demonstrated that engineered commensal bacteria are retained in the lungs long enough for sensing or therapeutic purposes and that they can be made to secrete enzymes which are easily detected in urine. These same bacteria can be engineered with new bacterial receptors for specific biomolecule detection, allowing them to differentiate pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria, sense specific mammalian cells, or detect injuries. Alternatively, bacteria may be engineered for therapeutic purposes. For example, by secreting therapeutic compounds to fight off antibiotic resistant lung pathogens.

Teaching Interests:

I am deeply committed to pursuing scientific education as an integral component of my career and I have consistently sought out mentorship and teaching opportunities. This is most evident in my coaching of an undergraduate summer synthetic biology (iGEM) team which I initiated, fundraised for and ran during 5 years at CU Boulder and one year here at OHSU. Coaching these teams involved giving informal weekly lectures to a synthetic biology club consisting of several dozen students, then training and mentoring a group of 5 to 10 students over the summer in lab. Apart from this, I have formally mentored undergraduate researchers within the Discovery Learning Apprenticeship at CU Boulder and the Murdoch Scholars and Summer Equity Internship programs at OHSU. I also have formal teaching experience consisting of an advanced research assistant position at CU Boulder in which I developed and delivered lectures within an undergraduate level chemical engineering class. Furthermore, I have given lectures concerning basic molecular biology techniques to the CEDAR center at OHSU, where I now work. Throughout my academic career, I have been recognized as a clear and engaging public speaker, from awards for poster presentations at national conferences, to winning presentation competitions at the CEDAR center. I also have experience communicating scientific work done by others, through the many journal cover images that I’ve been hired to create.