Current Students

Sushmita Adhikari
1st year PhD student

Advisor: Rotating
Research: TBD
Education: BS, University of Nebraska - Omaha

Monisha Alla
2nd year PhD student

Advisor: Rey Carabeo, PhD
Education: MS, Vellore Institute of Technology, India

Blake Bertrand
5th year PhD student

Advisor: Tammy Kielian, PhD
Research: Host-pathogen interactions during staphylococcus aureus prosthetic joint infection
Education: BS, Saint Louis University, MO 

Ashish Das
2nd year PhD student

Advisor: Howard Gendelman, MD 
Research: TBD
Education: MS, South Asian University, New Delhi

Srijanee Das    
4th year PhD student

Advisor: Howard Gendelman, MD
Co-Advisor: Benson Edagwa, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BS/MS, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India

Elizabeth DelMain
7th year PhD student

Advisor: Ken Bayles, PhD
Research Area: Regulation and expression of virulence genes in Staphylococcus aureus
Education: BS, University of Saint Thomas, MN

 Amanda Fernandes
2nd year PhD student

Advisor: Santhi Gorantla, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: B.tech., Manipal Institute of Technology, India

Tessa Firestone
4th year MS student

Advisor: Caroline Ng, PhD
Research: Cell stress responses and Artemisinin resistance in the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
Education: BS, University of Pittsburgh, PA

Francis Fontanilla
3rd year PhD student

Advisor: Rey Carabeo, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: MS, University of Philippines

Valerie Fousek-Schuller
4th year PhD student

Advisor: Xu Luo, PhD
Research: Investigation of molecular mechanisms in cell death and survival in cancer cells
Education: BS, Wayne State College, NE

Advisor: M. Jana Broadhurst, MD, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BS, Peru State College, NE

Advisor: Marilynn Larson, PhD
Research: Characterization of the Stress Response in Francisella tularensis
Education: BS, Northern Arizona University, AZ

Advisor: Vinai C. Thomas, Phd
Research: Investigating the metabolic pathways Staphylococcus uses to respond to oxidative stress
Education: BS, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Advisor: Scot Ouellette, PhD
Research: Chlamydial microbiology: metabolism and gene regulation 
Education: BS, Wayne State College, NE

Advisor: Stacey D. Gilk, PhD
Research: Manipulation of the host endocytic pathway during Coxiella burnetii infections
Education: BS, Peru State College, NE

Advisor:  Geoffrey Talmon, MD
Research: Microvillus Inclusion Disease
Education: BS, University of Nebraska - Omaha

Advisor: Tammy Kielian, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: MS, University of Nebraska - Omaha

Aaron Jensen 
4th year PhD student

Advisor: Scot Ouellette, PhD
Research: Proteomic turnover in the context of chlamydial developmental cycle progression
Education: BS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Brigham Killips
3rd year PhD student

Advisor: Stacey D. Gilk, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BS, University of Kansas

Elizabeth Klug
3rd year PhD student

Advisor:  Joshua Santarpia, PhD
Co-Advisor:  St. Patrick Reid, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BS, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Haley Knowles
2nd year PhD student

Advisor: St. Patrick Reid, PhD
Education: BS, Saint Andrews University, NC

Caitlin Molczyk
4th year PhD student
MD/PhD Scholars Program

Advisor: Rakesh Singh, PhD
Research: Pancreatic cancer microenvironment with focus on chemotherapy resistance
Education: BS, Wayne State College, NE

Megan Otte
2nd year PhD student

Advisor: Amar Singh, Phd
Research: Molecular mechanisms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Education: BS, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Advisor: Siddappa Byrareddy, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: MS, South Dakota State University

Advisor: Michael Wiley, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BS, Michigan State University - East Lansing

Advisor: Paul D. Fey, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: MS, University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE

Advisor: Rey Carabeo, PhD
Research: Molecular Pathogenesis
Education: MS, Microbiology, Texas Tech University

Advisor: St. Patrick Reid, PhD
Research: Understanding the dynamics of Chikungunya virus-induced impairment of bone homeostasis during infection
Education: MS, University of Calcutta, India.

Advisor: Maher Abdalla, PhD
Research: Targeting Heme Oxygenase-1 in Prostate Cancer
Education: BS, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Thomas Schulze
6th year PhD student

Advisor: Paul Davis, PhD 
Research: TBD
Education: MS, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Zachary Scott
4th year PhD student

Advisor: Prabagaran (Praba) Narayanasamy, PhD
Research: investigating the mechanisms of action of gallium-based antibiotics
Education: MS, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Ryan Singh
6th year PhD student

Advisor: Vinai C. Thomas, PhD
Research Area: physiological significance of bacterial NOS in Staphylococci
Education: BS, University of Chicago, IL

Amanda Stastny
4th year PhD student

Advisor: Rey Carabeo, PhD
Research: Iron Acquisition and Regulation by Chlamydia trachomatis
Education: BS, University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Advisor: Elizabeth Rucks, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BA, Carleton College, MN 

Reegan Sturgeon
2nd year PhD student

Advisor: Rakesh Singh, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BS, University of Dubuque, IA

Advisor: Tammy Kielian, PhD
Research: The association between metabolism and epigenetics during S. aureus craniotomy infection
Education: BS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Advisor: Paul D. Fey, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: BA, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI. 

Advisor: Scot Ouellette, PhD
Education: MS, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Advisor: Paul D. Fey, PhD
Research: TBD
Education: MS, University of Nebraska – Omaha

Advisor: Elizabeth Rucks, PhD
Research: The Effect of Eukaryotic SNARE Proteins on Chlamydia trachomatis Lipid Content
Education: BS, South Dakota State University, SD

Advisor: Scot Ouellette, PhD
Research: Proteomic turnover in the context of chlamydial developmental cycle progression
Education: BS, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD