Applied Microbiology

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Georgia State University

EDUCATION:
PhD Environmental Toxicology, University of California at Riverside 1997

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
The central focus of research in my laboratory is microbial biofilms, or communities of microorganisms attached to surfaces. Biofilms are widely distributed in nature, and may be beneficial or harmful to humans, depending on the microbes that inhabit them. A common feature to all of our work with biofilms is quantitative analysis of biofilm structure based on biofilms grown in flow cells and imaged by confocal microscopy. This approach allows us to make rigorous examinations of factors affecting biofilm structure, organization and function.

We are currently working on approaches to cultivate multispecies biofilms with defined compositions. We hope to use our newly-developed techniques in our research on cooperative interactions that foster antibiotic resistance, and to build multispecies biofilms that break down mixed wastes.