Skaar_Lab_People

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Skaar Lab at work

Brian Corbin, Ph.D. Brian received his B.S. in Microbiology and Master's Degree in Biology from Texas State University. Brian earned his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. William Margolin at The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston studying E. coli cell division. Currently Brian’s research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms used by S. aureus to protect itself against neutrophil-mediated killing.	Victor Torres, Ph.D. Victor received his B.S. in Industrial Microbiology from University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez campus and his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University in the laboratory of Dr. Timothy Cover. Victor's current research focuses on understanding the staphylococcal pathways involved in responding to host molecules.

Michelle Reniere Michelle received her B.S. in Chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology and entered the IGP here at Vanderbilt University in 2005. Her research focuses on intracellular metalloporphyrin metabolism.	Devin Stauff Devin is from the great state of Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Grove City College. Devin’s research focuses on how Staphylococcus aureus acquires and responds to the nutrient iron source heme. In his spare time, Devin watches Walker: Texas Ranger reruns with his wife, Amy.

Olusegun Aranmolate Olusegun "Sheg" graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a minor degree in Psychology in 2005 and his master's degree in Applied Molecular Biology in 2006 from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Sheg’s current research project involves identifying the staphylococcal and host proteins that do battle during infection. His future goals include obtaining a M.P.H. and a M.D. degree respectively.	Amanda Wycoff Amanda received her B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. Her research focuses on the mechanism of heme degradation by Gram positive pathogens. Future plans include applying to master's programs for Genetics Counseling.
	Jeff Mason, MD Jeff received his B.S in Zoology from the University of Arkansas. He earned his Master´s degree in the laboratory of Dr. Timothy Kral, Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas studying Archaea. He received his M.D. with honors from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and performed research with Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D. developing a multiplex PCR protocol for the diagnosis of staphylococcal infections. He completed his internal medicine residency training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2006 and is currently a second year fellow in infectious diseases. Jeff's current research interests are the development of a murine staphylococcal pneumonia model and understanding the pathophysiology behind iron utilization in this environment.
Indriati Hood Originally from Canada, Indriati came to Vanderbilt most recently from New York where she earned her B.S. in Biology from Houghton College. Currently, she is a student in Vanderbilt’s Medical Scientist Training Program. Her work in the lab is focused on elucidating virulence factors involved in the pathogenesis of Acinetobacter baumannii infections.
	Gleb Pishchany Gleb received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from David Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN in 2005. His current research is focused on heme acquisition as an iron source by Staphylococcus aureus.
Lab Alumni

Danielle Bagaley Danielle received her B.S. in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry from Louisiana State University. Following college, Danielle obtained her M.S. in Biological Sciences (specializing in Molecular Biology and Bacteriology) from Louisiana State University focusing on bacterial diversity in hyper-arid environments. Danielle worked on small molecule transport in S. aureus. She is currently enrolled in a Physician Assistant program.	Marcella Luercio Marcella worked on inactivating S. aureus genes for use in pathogenesis studies. She is currently enrolled in a research training program at the National Institutes of Health

Brad Sabatini Brad obtained his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University in Neuroscience. His past projects in the lab included using TMBZ staining to look for novel heme-binding proteins and creating S. aureus mutants to find possible antimicrobial targets. He is currently attending Medical School.	Melissa Watts Melissa received her B.A. from Lipscomb University in 2003. In this lab she studied the relationships between heme transport systems in S. aureus pathogenesis. She is currently attending Medical School .

Eric Skaar, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Eric earned his B.S. in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, his Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis from Northwestern University, and his M.P.H. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Northwestern University.

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Skaar Lab at work

Lab Alumni