Ausubel Lab People
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Jenifer
Bush Greenhouse Manager
Education
Interests
I manage the plant growth facilities for the Ausubel and Sheen labs.
Our facilities consist of numerous reach-in growth
chambers, six controlled environment walk-in rooms, a plant tissue culture
lab, and two greenhouses. When I'm not tending plants at work, I am
caring for plants at my home greenhouse and gardens. I also keep bees
and currently have 4 hives. |
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Nicole Clay
Research Fellow
Education B.S., Massachusetts Institute
of Technology; Ph.D., Yale University
Interests Plant development and disease
I am interested in studying PAMP-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis and its modulation by P. syringae type III effector proteins.
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Annie Lee
Conery Research Associate
Education B.A., Pomona College; Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley
Interests Developing high-throughput high content screening methods to carry out RNAi and chemical compounds screens with C. elegans
I work with the Ruvkun and Ausubel labs, in collaboration with the Chemical Biology Platform and the Imaging Platform at the Broad Institute, to develop automated screening technology and methods to perform C. elegans RNAi and chemical compound screens. We use automated worm sorting, liquid handling, image acquisition and image analysis to carry out high throughput screens yielding high content data. We are currently exploring 1) RNAi screens to identify novel genes involved in metabolism and 2) chemical compound screens to identify novel anti-infectives as models to develop generally applicable methodologies to perform a wide range of screens using C. elegans as a model organism. When I'm not in lab, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I can't resist a beautiful day outdoors, I love to read and I'm always looking for my next favorite restaurant. |
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Cristian
H. Danna Research
Fellow
Education B.Sc., U. of Misiones, Argentina; Ph.D., U. of Buenos Aires-University of San Martin, Argentina
Interests Plant-pathogen interactions
The human adaptive immune system produces antibodies in response to pathogen attack. This is a sophisticated mechanism that is useful to prevent humans from getting long-term infections and diseases. But is this system accountable for our health? Certainly not. Underlying antibodies is the more ancient and unnoticed innate immune system, which relies on preformed receptors for detecting pathogens and triggering a faster defense response. Plants, unlike humans, lack an adaptive immune system to defend themselves against pathogens. However, they are healthy primarily due to the innate immune system. I am studying diverse signaling pathways of Arabidopsis thaliana involved in the first line of response to pathogens. |
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Carine Denoux
Research Technician
Education M.Sc., University Louis
Pasteur of Strasbourg (France)
Interests
Plant defense response & secondary metabolism
In plant-pathogen interactions, I am focused on the Arabidopsis
defense response after treatment with elicitor.
To study the signaling pathways of the Oligogalacturonides (OG) host-derived
molecule, I use expression profiling (Affymetrix full genome Arabidopsis
gene chips) and reverse genetics on marker genes of the OG response. |
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Julia Dewdney Assistant
in Molecular Biology
Education
BA, Smith College; PhD, Harvard University
Interests
Plant response to pathogens
In plants, the defense response to pathogen challenge is comprised
of complex and interacting networks. A main goal of my research
is to understand the controls that determine which responses will
be activated in a particular plant/pathogen interaction. For instance,
common molecular patterns that are associated with potential pathogens
(eg, Flg22 or OGs) elicit characteristic sets of responses, which
may be suppressed by pathogen virulence factors or enhanced
by a plant’s recognition of additional pathogen-associated molecules. |
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Slavica Djonovic Research Fellow
Education B.S., University of Belgrade, Serbia; M.S., Colorado State; Ph.D., Texas A&M University
Interests Host-pathogen interactions
It is generally believed that there has been extensive co-evolution of plant cell walls and corresponding cell wall degrading enzymes of microbial pathogens. To test this hypothesis, I wish to understand the innate cell-wall deconstruction ability of microbial pathogen P. aeruginosa by using high-throughput automation assays to study the deconstruction of the model plant Arabidopsis. This will lead to a better understanding of the processes during plant-pathogen interactions and to a better understanding of the co-evolution of plants and microbes and the evolution of an important class of microbial enzymes that play a key role in the carbon cycle. |
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Eliana Drenkard Research
Fellow
Education B.Sc., Cordoba University,
Argentina; Ph.D., Cordoba University, Argentina
Interests
Pseudomonas
biofilms, biofilm resistance mechanisms
My research is focused on understanding the mechanisms that mediate
P. aeruginosa
biofilm resistance in CF and chronic infections. In particular, I
am studying the involvement of phenotypic variants resistant to antibiotics
in biofilm formation and resistance mechanisms. I am currently analyzing
mutants obtained from a genetic screen designed to identify genes
involved in the formation of phenotypic variants and study their role
in biofilm resistance. Moreover, I am complementing the mutant analysis
with data obtained from DNA microarrays performed using phenotypic
variants. |
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Rhonda Feinbaum Assistant
in Molecular Biology
Education B.A., Reed College; Ph.D.,
Harvard University
Interests
Innate immunity
I am interested in understanding the pathogenic interaction of Psuedomonas
aeruginosa with C.
elegans as a simple model for bacterial
infection. For several years, I have been involved in the identification
of C. elegans
innate immunity genes required for the response to pathogens. In addition,
together with Nicole Liberati, I have recently embarked on a genome-wide
screen to identify P. aeruginosa
PA14 virulence factors required for infection of C.
elegans. |
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Suresh Gopalan Visiting Scientist
Education B.E. (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India; Ph.D., Anna University, Madras, India
Interests Host-pathogen interactions; high-throughput systems for studying host-pathogen interactions
Host organisms use evolutionarily conserved but diverse and often pathogen-dependent mechanisms of immunity. I am setting up model systems and studying interactions between the diverse immune systems to unravel responses that become apparent during such cross-regulation. I am also developing a plant-based high-throughput platform to study fundamentals of host-pathogen interactions and multiplexed analyses of many aspects of signaling. |
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Javier Irazoqui Research
Fellow
Education Licentiate,
National U. of Rosario, Argentina; Ph.D., Duke University
Interests
Host-pathogen interactions, genetics
and cell biology of innate immunity
My research is currently focused on the identification and characterization
of signaling pathways that control the host´s ability to fend
off bacterial infection. To this end, I am using a C. elegans model
pathogenesis system. When I'm not at the lab, chances are I´m
out there shooting pictures.
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Pauline
Lim Administrative Assistant
Education A.B., Visual and Environmental
Studies, Harvard College
Interests
Art, music, biking, hiking, running, swimming, eating
Professional artist and musician (http://www.paulinelim.net).
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Nicole
Mammarella Graduate Student
Education B.S., Virginia Tech
Interests Plant Innate Immunity
I'm a graduate student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard Medical School. My projects currently involve investigation of elicitor responsive signaling pathways and the role of the oxidative burst in defense responses. |
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Yves Millet
Graduate Student
Education B.Sc., Ecole Normale
Superieure de Lyon; M.Sc., University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg
Interests Plant response to pathogens
I am interested in plant secondary metabolism response to pathogens.
The largest superfamily of proteins involved in Arabidopsis
thaliana secondary metabolism are the cytochromes P450. My
main project is the characterization and the functionnal analysis
of cytochrome P450s involved in Arabidopsis
response to pathogens using the two pathosystems A.thaliana-Ps.syringae
and A.thaliana-B.cinerea. |
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Julia Plotnikov Assistant
in Molecular Biology
Education Ph.D., Plant Physiology
Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences; Dr.Sc., Main Botanical Garden,
Russian Academy of Sciences
Interests The molecular and structural basis of host-pathogen interactions
I study various types of fungal and bacterial pathogens and their interactions with Arabidopsis mutants, transgenic plants and ecotypes. I have found a striking difference in infection strategies of biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens in induction of diverse pathogenesis-related genes and metabolic pathways. I pay special attention to the resistance gene induction at the plant-pathogen interface. |
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Jennifer Powell Research
Fellow
Education B.A.,
Hendrix College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Interests
Genetics of the innate immune response
I am interested in the molecular interactions that occur at the interface
between a pathogen and its potential host. Little is known about the
mechanism by which C. elegans recognizes an infection and triggers
an immune response. I am thus working to characterize a G-protein
coupled receptor that is a candidate pathogen receptor in worms. Additionally,
I am characterizing a novel Ser/Thr kinase that is required for immune
signaling. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, reading, and playing
with my cats. |
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Wisuwat "Fu" Songnuan
Graduate Student
Education
BS, Duke University
Interests The
role of plant roots in pathogen defense
I am studying small compounds secreted via Arabidopsis roots as a
part of pathogen defense using HPLC profiling approach in conjunction
with the traditional gene expression profiling and genetic analysis.
In particular, I am interested in the signaling pathway(s) leading
to root exudation of these compounds and the mechanisms employed by
successful bacterial pathogens to overcome this type of defense. Outside
the lab, I enjoy Karaoke, cooking, playing badminton and squash, and
running along the Charles river. |
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Emily Troemel Assistant
in Molecular Biology
Education B.S., University of
Wisconsin, Madison; Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
Interests Genetics of innate
immunity
I am interested in how bacterial pathogens infect the nematode C.
elegans, and how C. elegans
responds to these infections. In particular, I am investigating
natural pathogens of C. elegans
and the variation in host response of C.
elegans natural isolates from different parts of the world.
I also am developing new read-outs of infection, using genetic and
morphological markers. My interests also include the interconnections
between aging and immunity in C. elegans.
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Jonathan Urbach Bioinformatics
Specialist
Education A.B. Cornell University;
Ph.D. Harvard University
As part of an effort to discover new virulence genes in the the model
pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa
and Pseudomonas syringae, I've
been working on bioinformatics tools for performing automated data
analysis, and created web-accessible databases for the resulting data.
Among these tools are some data-analysis pipelines to handle a high
volume of sequence data from several projects, including the genomic
sequencing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
strain PA14, the construction of a non-redundant PA14 Transposon Insertion
Mutant Library, and an exhaustive, high-throughput, DFI screen for
novel Type III effectors in Pseudomonas
syringae. |
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Gang Wu
Bioinformatics
Specialist
Education B.S., East China University
of Science and Technology; M.S., Shanghai Jiaotong University; M.A.,
Brandeis University
Interests Computational Biology
With completion of more genome sequencing projects, more data are
available every day. Developing software systems to extract useful
information from the huge amount of data is more important than ever.
My interest is to build systems to facilitate promoter analysis, genomic
analysis, transcription profiling analysis, etc. |
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