Advisory Board and Editors Infectious Diseases
Marisa Fabiana Nicolás
Dr. Marisa Fabiana Nicolás is a biologist with a Ph.D. in Genetics. She worked as a protein annotator in the UniProt/Swiss-Prot database from 2005 to 2007. Since May 2009 she is an Associate Researcher at the Bioinformatics Laboratory (Labinfo) at LNCC/MCTI Brazil. Dr. Nicolas has experience in Genetics, Molecular Biology, Genomics, and Bioinformatics. She works mainly in Bioinformatics applied to the analysis of genomes and transcriptomes (RNAseq and scRNAseq) and metabolic and regulatory networks in clinically relevant pathogens.
Corey Nislow
Corey Nislow's laboratory develops and uses cutting edge tools to address this central question: how can we understand the biological commonalities in all of the life sciences; from embryonic development, to the spread of infectious diseases to better ways to treat cancer. Each of these disciplines can be explained in the context of competition, interaction and evolution. His lab studies the interface between genes and the environment using parallel genome-wide screens, high throughput cell-based assays and next generation sequencing. Most recently, he and his scientific partner, Dr. Guri Giaever, are exploring how laboratory experiments can co-opt evolutionary processes to understand drug action. He enjoys teaching all aspects of biotechnology, genomics and drug discovery. He got his PhD from the University of Colorado, worked at several Biotechnology companies and was at Stanford and University of Toronto before joining UBC in 2013. He has published 161 papers and run 19 marathons.
Conor P O'Byrne
Director of the Bacterial Stress Response Group, Senior lecturer in Microbiology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The research focus in my group is on the molecular mechanisms that food-borne bacterial pathogens use to sense and respond to harsh conditions in their environment. Pathogens encounter major physicochemical changes as they transition from food into the host, particularly in relation to pH, osmolarity, oxygen concentration, light and temperature. Understanding how pathogenic bacteria detect and respond to these changes is critical if we are to devise sensible strategies to prevent their entry into the food chain and to prevent infections from arising in the human population. In my laboratory we study two important food-borne pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli.
Audrey R Odom John
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The primary research goals of our lab are to understand the biological functions of specific metabolic pathways in the malaria parasite--that is, to understand what the parasite needs to make, and why it needs to make it.
Sonia MR Oliveira
Doctor Sonia Oliveira holds a Licenciatura in Biology (pre-Bologna) and a Master in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Aveiro, where she also specialized in medicinal plants, toxicology, murine models, and spermatogenesis. In 2011 she moved to Australia to work in Reproductive Biological Sciences. She later explored the nerve-cancer connection in Cancer, namely in female cancers, and completed her Ph.D. in Human Physiology ( with a significant component in Medical Biochemistry and Neurophysiology) from the University of Newcastle (Australia) in 2018. She then worked with biomimetic systems and nanotechnology in diabetes and stem cells. She explored multiple methods for primary and secondary cell culture, always with a keen interest in histopathology, cell biology, and rare disorders. Participated in >40 event(s). (Co-)Supervised MSc dissertation(s) and final projects for course completion of LSc/BSc. And works mostly in the area(s) of Natural sciences with emphasis on Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Medical and Health Sciences with emphasis on Neurosciences, Cancer, Reproduction, Toxicology, Biotechnology, and Stem cells. Also has collaborations in Microbiology, Biomaterials, and Communication and Information technologies.
Tanya Parish
Tanya Parish a Principal Investigator in the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Her work focuses on the discovery of new drugs that are effective at curing drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis with the added goal of shortening the time it takes to cure disease. This encompasses a range of early stage drug discovery including drug target identification and validation, high throughput screening and medicinal chemistry. In addition, her group works to understand the pathogenic mechanisms and basic biology of the global pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis and using this information to inform drug discovery.
Tanya is a microbiologist by training, with a background in mycobacteriology. She received her PhD at the National Institute for Medical Research investigating gene regulation in mycobacteria followed by postdoctoral research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine studying several facets of the biology of M. tuberculosis. She previously held an academic post as Professor of Mycobacteriology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and was a Senior Vice President (Drug Discovery) at the Infectious Disease Research Institue.
Tanya has edited several books on mycobacteria and published numerous papers on the basic biology and genetics of M. tuberculosis.
Eli N. Perencevich
Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Director, Center for Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research & Evaluation (CADRE), Iowa City VA Healthcare System. Primary research areas: infection prevention, multi-drug resistant bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus
Tomas Perez-Acle
Biologist, PhD in Biotechnology. Director of the Centro BASAL Ciencia & Vida. Head Researcher of the Computational Biology Lab (dLab) at Fundacion Ciencia & Vida, Santiago, Chile. Research Professor at Facultad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad San Sebastián.
Brett E Pickett
Dr. Brett Pickett is an Assistant Professor in the Microbiology and Molecular Biology Department at Brigham Young University. He completed his B.S degree in Microbiology from BYU in 2005, his Ph.D. training in Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and his postdoctoral training in Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He then obtained additional experience in industry, and at the J. Craig Venter Institute, where he led investigative studies in viral comparative genomics and the human transcriptional response during viral infection. His research develops data mining methods, applies machine learning techniques, and use advanced statistical workflows to better understand how human cells respond during infection.
Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy
Prof. Ramamoorthy is a Professor of Chemistry a Robert W Parry Collegiate Professor of Chemistry and Biophysics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He holds or has held the positions listed below.
Associate Director of Biophysics and an elected fellow of AAAS.
Hans Fischer Senior Fellow, Technical University of Munich, 2015
Rackham Faculty Recognition Award, 2012
American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, 2009
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellow, 2009
Willsmore Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2009
NSF Career Development Award
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Osaka University (2005)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Kyoto University (2008)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Max-Planck Institute, Mainz (2009)
Morteza Saki
Dr. Morteza Saki is a researcher within the Department of Microbiology at the Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences,Ahvaz, Iran.
His research focuses on the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in ESKAPE Pathogens, especially Klebsiella pneumoniae.