Projects & Investigators

CURRENT INVESTIGATORS

Paul D. Fey, PhD, D(ABMM)
Professor of Pathology & Microbiology.
Medical Director of Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Nebraska Medicine. 

Dr. Fey received his training in staphylococcal biology, pathogenesis and genetics from Dr. Richard Goering (PhD Creighton University 1995) and Dr. Gordon Archer (Post-doctoral fellowship Medical College of Virginia 1995-1997). Clinical microbiology training was received from both St. Joseph’s Hospital in Omaha, NE and Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond, VA.

Tra-My N Hoang, BS (PhD Candidate)

BS University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE (Biology) 
Tramy is currently studying transcriptional regulation of the icaADBC locus in Staphylococcus epidermidis.  icaADBC encodes enzymes that function in the synthesis of polysaccharide intercellular adhesion (PIA), a major accumulation molecule in biofilm formation.

Chunyi Zhou, BM (PhD candidate)

BM (Bachelor of Clinical Medicine) Xinxiang Medical University, Henan, China.
Chunyi is currently assessing arginine metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus and its relationship to urease activity and function.

McKenzie Lehman, PhD 
Instructor, Pathology & Microbiology Department

BS Creighton University (Biology)
PhD University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Lehman received her PhD in 2014 from UNMC in Dr. Ken Bayles Laboratory studying the two component regulatory system LytSR.  She is currently studying amino acid metabolism in S. aureus; particularly the regulation and function of glutamate dehydrogenase (gudB) which synthesizes 2-oxoglutarate from glutamate.

Fareha Razvi, PhD  (Post-doctoral fellow)

BS  in Botany, Delhi University, India (1996)
MS in Genetics, Delhi University, India  (1998)
PhD  Aachen University (Fraunhofer-Munich) Germany (2003)
Dr. Razvi is currently studying acetate catabolism in S. aureus and the mechanisms that function to activate the acetate switch.

Natalie Sturd, BS (technologist)

B.A. Carleton College, Northfield MN (Biology)
Proline is a particularly important for use as  a secondary carbon source and as an osmoprotectant in S. aureus.  Natalie is studying the transport of proline within different biological niches and growth conditions.

Roxanne Alter, MT (ASCP), MS 

BS, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO (Biology)
MT (ASCP), University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
MS, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE (Pathology and Microbiology)

Roxanne coordinated several studies between the Center for Staphylococcal Research and clinical departments at UNMC including multiple studies assessing antimicrobial resistance within the Enterobacteriaceae.
She is currently works in the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory as a state trainer.

Carolyn R. Schaeffer, PhD

Dr. Schaeffer received her PhD in 2014 from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Pathology and Microbiology.  Dissertation title (July 2014): “Contribution of Accumulation-Associated Protein to Staphylococcus epidermidis virulence.”  She performed post-doctoral work in our laboratory studying amino acid metabolism and its connection to urease function in a renal abscess model.  She is currently a medical science liaison for Shire Pharmaceuticals.

Jill K. Lindgren, MS

Jill received her BS in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Jill studied the function of arginine deiminase in Staphylococcus epidermidis.  Thesis title (April 2012):  “Native and Acquired Copies of Arginine Deiminase Contribute Differentially to Growth, pH, and Biofilm formation in Staphylococcus epidermidis 1457.” She is currently the mother of two girls and lives in the Twin Cities.

Austin S. Nuxoll, PhD

BS University of Nebraska-Kearney. Biology
During his time at UNMC, Dr. Nuxoll studied the metabolism and transcriptional regulation of arginine biosynthesis in S. aureus and its relationship to staphylococcal pathogenesis.  Dissertation title (July 2014): “Arginine Biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus.”   

He was a post-doctoral fellow studying in the laboratory of Professor Kim Lewis at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Shawn R. Slater, BS

Shawn (pictured left with Dr. Handke) was a technologist in the laboratory for 6 years (2002-2008) and studied biofilm maturation in S. epidermidis and molecular diagnostics of BSL-3 pathogens (Yersinia pestis and Francisella tularensis).  Shawn currently works for the US government at Dugway Proving Grounds in Dugway, UT. 

Kathie L. Rogers, PhD

Dr. Rogers received her bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University in Wayne, NE. 
She studied class III phenotypic variation in S. epidermidis, which is a deletion event, mediated by insertion sequence elements.  Dissertation title (December 2008): “Genetic characterization of class III phenotypic variation in Staphylococcus epidermidis.”  Dr. Rogers, who had 20 years of experience in clinical microbiology before earning her PhD, is director of clinical microbiology of Iowa Health in Des Moines, Iowa. 

Michael E. Olson, PhD

Dr. Olson received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  Dr. Olson wrote his dissertation on genes that function to mediate biofilm maturation in S. epidermidis.  His work was the basis for the current investigation on arginine metabolism.  Dissertation title (April 2009): “Biofilm maturation in Staphylococcus epidermidis.”  Dr. Olson was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Alex Horswill at the University of Iowa. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Illinois School of Medicine in the Department of Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology.

Lauren E. Kinkead, BS, PhD

Lauren received her BS in microbiology from Minnesota State Mankato.  She was an undergraduate summer student and technologist for three years where she investigated the effects of TCA cycle mutations on the activity of bactericidal antibiotics against S. epidermidis.  She received a PhD from the University of Iowa studying Francisella tularensis pathogenesis with Dr. Lee-Ann Allen.

Keith Woods, PhD

Dr. Woods received his BS in Biology from Western Washington and his PhD in Immunology from Kansas State University.  Dr. Woods developed a rat model of intravascular catheter related infection to study S. epidermidis pathogenesis.