Microbial Physiology and Ecology Faculty
Learn more about this group by contacting Dr. Kurt Dahlstrom (dahlstrom@uga.edu).
Microbial Physiology and Ecology (MPE) includes research groups that are unified by their focus on understanding the fundamental biology of microorganisms and their interactions between themselves, other organisms and the environment. Research across the MPE group addresses basic and applied questions and takes advantage of wide ranging technical approaches.
Bik, Holly
Holly Bik Assistant Professor Marine Sciences, Bioinformatics Invertebrate microbiomes; nematode ecology and evolution; benthic and deep-sea habitats; using environmental DNA for biomonitoring Website
Billmyre, Blake
Blake Billmyre Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences Department/Infectious Diseases Department High throughput genetics to better understand evolution of fungal pathogens and drive antifungal drug discovery. Website
Blubaugh, Carmen
Carmen Blubaugh Assistant Professor Entomology Biodiversity; insect ecology; the role of soil microbes and defensive plant chemistry in plant/herbivore interactions, predator/prey interactions; sustainable agriculture Website
Chung, Anny
Anny Chung Assistant Professor Plant Biology Plant population and community ecology; plant-microbe interactions, global change biology; microbial ecology Website
Cohen, Natalie
Natalie Cohen Assistant Professor Marine Sciences, Bioinformatics Marine microbial ecology; phytoplankton physiology; ocean biogeochemistry; environmental bioinformatics Website
Downs, Diana
Diana Downs Distinguished Research Professor Microbiology Bacterial physiology and metabolic integration using biochemical, genetic and metabolomics approaches. Website
Eiteman, Mark
Mark A. Eiteman Professor Microbiology Fermentation and biotechnology with emphasis on microbial processes to generate fuels and chemicals; nutrient-limited processes; central metabolism and the effect of redox constraints. Website
Ellison, Courtney
Courtney Ellison Assistant Professor Microbiology Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, dynamics of bacterial nanomachines, microbial subcellular organization. Website
Escalante-Semerena, Jorge
Jorge Escalante-Semerena UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor Microbiology Prokaryotic metabolism and physiology with emphasis on protein acetylation, toxic metabolites, and complex metabolic pathway analysis, integration. Website
Frye, Jonathan
Jonathan Frye Research Microbiologist Microbiology We investigate the development and spread of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella, which is the most prevalent foodborne bacterial illness in the U.S. Website
Garfinkel, David
David Garfinkel Professor Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Retrovirus-like transposons in budding yeast, control of transposition, restriction factors. Website
Harvill, Eric T.
Eric T. Harvill Professor Infectious Diseases Interactions between microbial pathogens and host immunity in the mouse model using bacteria that naturally infect mice and closely related strains that are important human pathogens. Website
Hines, Kelly M.
Kelly M. Hines Assistant Professor Chemistry Lipidomic and metabolomic analyses of antimicrobial resistant pathogens using ion mobility and mass spectrometry Website
Hoover, Tim
Tim Hoover Professor Microbiology Gene regulation in bacteria; regulation of flagellar biogenesis; control of RpoN-dependent transcription in bacteria. Website
Karls, Anna
Anna Karls Associate Professor Microbiology Mechanisms for microbial adaptation and virulence; specialized DNA recombination in Neisseria meningitidis & N. gonorrhoeae; sigma54 regulon in Salmonella Typhimurium. Website
Kvitko, Brian
Brian Kvitko Associate Professor Microbiology Molecular mechanisms of plant immune action and bacterial pathogen virulence in model and crop pathosystems. Tool/technique development for phytopathogenesis systems biology and translational research. Website
Lafontaine, Eric
Eric Lafontaine Professor ILS Graduate Coordinator Infectious Diseases Bacterial pathogenesis; role of adhesins in virulence; vaccine development. Website
Lewis, Zachary
Zachary Lewis Associate Professor Microbiology Chromatin structure and function; Epigenetics; Eukaryotic genome stability; Histone H1. Website
Lin, Xiaorong
Xiaorong Lin Professor Microbiology; Plant Biology Human fungal pathogens, sexual reproduction and development in fungal pathogenesis Website
Lipp, Erin
Erin K. Lipp Professor Microbiology Environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, marine systems, water quality and public health, disease ecology Website
Maier, Rob
Rob Maier Professor Microbiology Physiology and metallobiology of pathogenic bacteria. Website
Momany, Cory
Cory Momany Associate Professor Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences X-ray crystallography of macromolecules, prokaryotic transcriptional regulators. Website
Momany, Michelle
Michelle Momany Professor Plant Biology Cellular and molecular biology of polar growth in fungi. Website
Moreno, Silvia
Silvia Moreno Professor Cellular Biology Metabolism and drug development against protozoan parasites. Calcium signaling and storage in Toxoplasma gondii. Website
Neidle, Ellen
Ellen Neidle Professor Microbiology We use the easy genetic system of a soil bacterium, Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1,to study diverse aspects of gene expression and chromosomal rearrangements.This research has implications for medical issues (gene amplification), environmental issues (bioremediation), biotechnology/bioenergy (conversion of lignin to biofuels), and evolution (new methods for experimental evolution). Website
Oliver, Kerry
Kerry Oliver Associate Professor Entomology Ecology and evolution of heritable symbiosis in insects. Website
Ottesen, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Ottesen Assistant Professor Microbiology Ecology and physiology of environmental microbes. The use of community genomics and transcriptomics to examine microbial behavior in natural systems. Website
Saunders, Jaclyn
Jaclyn Saunders Assistant Professor Marine Sciences Marine microbial ecology and evolution; oceanography, biogeochemistry, astrobiology, bioinformatics, big data analytics in environmental science Website
Shariat, Nikki
Nikki Shariat Assistant Professor Population Health; Microbiology Molecular epidemiology of bacterial pathogens using metagenomics; ecology of Salmonella serovars in host animals and environments. Website
Starai, Vincent
Vincent Starai Associate Professor Infectious Diseases; Microbiology Bacterial modulation of eukaryotic membrane dynamics for intracellular survival; SNARE-dependent membrane fusion biochemistry. Website
Summers, Anne
Anne Summers Professor Microbiology; Toxicology Environmental stress biology, using biochemical, biophysical, and ‘omics approaches to define the roles of toxic metal exposure in chronic and infectious diseases. Website
Szymanski, Christine
Christine Szymanski Professor Microbiology Microbial glycobiology lab characterizing bacterial glycoconjugate pathways, bacteriophage interactions with their hosts, and benefits of human milk oligosaccharides to develop novel vaccines and therapeutics for the prevention of diarrheal diseases and post-infectious neuropathies such as Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Website
Terns, Michael
Michael Terns Distinguished Research Professor Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Genetics; Microbiology We study CRISPR-Cas immune systems that protect prokaryotes from viruses and provide powerful research tools for important biotechnology and biomedical applications. Website
Trent, M. Stephen
M. Stephen Trent UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor Infectious Diseases Characterizing the assembly of bacterial surface structures, Development of vaccines for viral and bacterial pathogens, Systems approaches to understanding microbial diseases Website
VanDrisse, Chelsey
Chelsey VanDrisse Assistant Professor, Genetics Department Our lab seeks to uncover novel regulatory mechanisms of biofilm formation to undermine bacterial survival in chronic infections. Website
Wallace, Jason
Jason Wallace Associate Professor Bioinformatics Quantitative genetics, crop genomics, crop-microbiome interactions. Website