People

Program: Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Current advisor: Helen McNeill, PhD

Undergraduate university: Georgia State University, 2019

Program: Biochemistry

Graduation Year: 2003

Thesis Advisor: Jay W. Heinecke

Thesis Title: Regulation of Matrix Metalloproteinases by Phagocyte-generated Reactive Oxygen Species

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Understand fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive the biogenesis and dynamics of intracellular membrane compartments

Key words
cytoskeleton, membranes, intracellular trafficking, organelle biogenesis, fluorescence, crystallography

Program: Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Current advisor: Aditi Gupta, PhD

Undergraduate university: Washington University, 2023

Program: Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Current advisor: Jennifer A. Philips, MD, PhD

Undergraduate university: Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, 2023

Program: Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Graduation Year: 2021

Thesis Advisor: Jeffrey P. Henderson

Thesis Title: Copper-mediated Regulation of a Traditional
Iron Acquisition System in Uropathogenic
Escherichia coli

Program: Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Graduation Year: 2009

Thesis Advisor: Tamara L. Doering

Thesis Title: Export and Regulation of the Polysaccharide Capsule in Cryptococcus Neoformans

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Immunology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary
Microbial community-immune interactions in airway diseases and urogenital tract

Key words
microbiota; microbiome; mucosal immunity; asthma; allergy; atopy; urinary tract infection; pathogen colonization; metabolomics;

Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Understanding and modifying the mechanisms controlling the onset of melanoma cancer by integrating zebrafish models and human disease

Key words
melanoma, cancer initiation, epigenetics, molecular genetics, neural crest, zebrafish, cancer models

Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Neurosciences
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
In the Kautt Lab, we combine a genomics-centered approach with molecular experiments, behavioral assays, and fieldwork to elucidate both the evolutionary and molecular mechanisms underlying organismal adaptation and diversification, with a focus on animal behavior.

Key words
Evolution, Genomics, Behavior, Adaptation, Speciation