Students

Current Graduate Students:

  • Anna Phan
  • Kasey Parker
  • Summer Sparrow

Graduated Students

Ph.D.

  1. Sheryl Walton. Dissertation title: Hyaluronate lyase gene of Streptococcus pyogenes: molecular characterization and regulation
  1. Robert Johns (Co-chair with Dan Sonenshine).Dissertation title: Tick Immunology and its influence on vector competence
  1. Martha Stokes. Dissertation title: Serotype association and regulation of the hyaluronate lyase gene of Streptococcus pyogenes.
  1. Chelsea Wright. Dissertation title: Determining the prevalence and distribution of tick-borne pathogens in southeastern Virginia and exploring the transmission dynamics of Rickettsia parkeri in Amblyomma maculatum.
  1. Alexandra Cumbie. Dissertation title: Drivers of rickettsial pathogen transmission and spillover in local tick populations in southeastern Virginia.

M.S. (Thesis)

  1. Sandra Jacobsen.Thesis title:  An extracellular protein produced by Staphylococcus hominis aM with antimicrobial action towards Mycobacterium spp.
  1. Laura Quinn. Thesis title:  Effect of magnesium on the production of ScnA and ScnR by Streptococcus pyogenes, strain FF22.
  1. Kimberly Hahn.Thesis title: Development of an electrotransformation technique for Streptococcus iniae and preliminary characterization of the hemolysin associated with this strain.
  1. Karin Berling.Thesis title: Characterization of the Spy1600, a putative hyaluronidase gene in group A streptococci
  1. Katherine Corbett Seguin. Thesis title: The defensin gene of Dermacentor variabilis and Ixodes scapularis.
  1. Paul LeTellier, Jr.      Thesis title: Variation in the fluorescence of green fluorescent protein in various strains of Escherichia coli.
  1. Stephanie (Michelle) Todd. Thesis title: Defensin transcript distribution in tissues and life stages of the ixodid ticks Amblyomma americanum and Ixodes scapularis.
  1. Kelly Wyatt (Co-Director).Thesis title: Evidence for disease mediated extinction: correlation between an introduced pathogen and extinction of Rattus macleari on Christmas Island.
  1. Julia Sharp. Thesis title: Antimicrobial activity screening of recombinant and synthetic varisin, a defensin from the hard tick Dermacentor variabilis, against various bacteria.
  1. Alexis Kordis. Thesis Title: Regulation of hyaluronate lyase (HylA) expression by RegR, a transcriptional repressor in Streptococcus pyogenes.
  1. Sharon Vaturi. Thesis title: Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum prevalence within Ixodes spp. in Southeastern Virginia.

M.S. (Nonthesis)

  • Jan Zajdowicz (2000)
  • Abigail Dixon (2000)
  • Lashanda Oglesby (2001)
  • Stacey Deputy (2003)
  • Lisa Fellman (2006)
  • Amanda Simmons (2009)
  • Shannon Hensley (2010)
  • Elizavta Svyatova (2014)
  • Melanie Sloan (2017)
  • Samantha Christensen (2018)
  • Laura Bitzer (2019)