Recipients of the CBE Young Investigator Award

July 2024

Jontana Allkja, Postdoctoral Researcher, Dental School and Hospital, University of Glasgow
“Crafting polymicrobial wound biofilm models through microbiome analysis”

Sakcham Bairoliya, Research Fellow, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University
“Monochloramine induces release of DNA and RNA from bacterial cells: Quantification, sequencing analyses, and implications”

July 2023

Robert Brzozowski, Postdoctoral Researcher, Biological Sciences, University of Montana
“Metabolic niche composition affects bacteriophage replication in adherent-invasive Escherichia coli biofilms”

Aswathy Shailaja, Postdoctoral Associate, Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center
“Using a fluorescent probe staining method and COMSAT to assess cell viability in Aspergillus niger biofilms treated with antimicrobial agents”

July 2022

“Application of PNA-FISH based-methods for bacterial detection and localization in biofilms”

“Accumulation of protoporphyrin IX by biofilm bacteria attenuates bovine neutrophil responses”

July 2019 

Jason Brown, Research Assistant, University of Glasgow Dental School
“Oral biofilm-stimulated human gingival epithelium differentially regulates inflammatory responses in co-cultured immune cells”

Erin Gloag, Postdoctoral Researcher, Microbial Infection & Immunity, The Ohio State University
“Evolution of P. aeruginosa in a chronic burn wound model”

Matthew Pestrak, Graduate Research Associate, Microbial Infection & Immunity, The Ohio State University
“Investigation of synovial fluid induced Staphylococcus aureus aggregate development and its impact on surface attachment and biofilm formation”

July 2018 

Andrew Jones
Postdoctoral Researcher, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
“Shear stress mediates metabolism and growth in electroactive biofilms”

Ariel Santiago
ORISE Research Fellow, Biofilm Laboratory, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA
“A potential biocontrol strategy for healthcare facilities using a surfactant-supplemented bacteriophage cocktail for the control of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms”

Pat Secor
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
“A bacteriophage integrase regulates virulence factor production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa”

July 2017 

Tim Hamerly
Postdoctoral Associate, Infectious Disease & Immunology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
“Imaging mass spectrometry: A technology to advance understanding and diagnosis of bacterial infections”

Ting Lu
Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL
“A multi-scale modeling framework for biofilm development”

July 2016 

Devendra Dusane
Postdoctoral Researcher, Microbial Infection & Immunity, The Ohio State University
"Strategies to treat intracellular and biofilm forming Staphylococcus aureus in orthopedic infections"

Curtis Larimer
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
"Quantifying biofilm development and structure with image analysis and high resolution 3D imaging"

Sarah Morgan
Sr. Postdoctoral Fellow, Microbiology, University of Washington
"Bacterial fitness determinants in chronic wound infections: Correlation with in vitro biofilm fitness"

Rosa Oliveira
Postdoctoral Res., Araraquara School of Dentistry, UNESP–Univ. Estadual Paulista
"Effects of chlorhexidine treatments on single and mixed species biofilms of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus as well as S. mutans and Actinomyces naeslundii"

July 2015                                                              

Robert Huigens III
Assistant Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Florida
“Phenazine antibiotic inspired discovery of biofilm-eradicating small molecules”

Juan Pavissich
Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
“Coupling multi-scale in situ determination of biofilm mechanical properties to mathematical modeling of biofilm fluid-structure interaction”

July 2014 

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Infectious Disease, University of Texas, Austin
“Analyzing secondary metabolite production by 3D-printed bacterial populations using scanning electrochemical microscopy”

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Infectious Disease, University of Texas, Austin
“Genetic requirements in spatially organized polymicrobial wound infection”

July 2013 

Bill Wuest
Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Temple University
“Probing second messenger molecules in biofilm formation: C-di-GMP and pGpG inhibitors and chemical probes”

February 2013

Research Chemist, PPG Industries
“Inhibiting bacterial biofilm formation on stainless steel 316L using self-assembled monolayers”

July 2012 

Postdoctoral Researcher, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of Ghent, Belgium
“Interfering with quorum sensing: Exploring the potential of combination therapy to treat chronically infected wounds”

February 2012

Lecturer, Microbial Diseases, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London, England
“Investigations into mobile genetic elements and horizontal gene transfer within oral biofilms”

July 2011 

Research Assistant Professor, Director of K-12 Outreach, Geobacter Project, University of Massachusetts Amherst
“Methods for the study of extracellular electron transfer in electrode-associated biofilms using Geobacter sulfurreducens as a model”

February 2011

Director of Basic Science Research, The Stone Centre at Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
“Urinary conditioning film components: A new target for preventing bacterial biofilm formation on urinary devices"

Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene, Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany
“In situ measurement of biofilm activity by FISH: Implications for the therapy for infective endocarditis"

July 2010 

Anne Han
Wound Fellow, Dermatology, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
“Novel molecular techniques to characterize the role of microbial flora in the pathogenesis of chronic wounds”

Ge (Alice) Zhao
Senior Fellow, Dermatology, University of Washington
“Characterization of biofilm infected wounds in diabetic mice”

February 2010

Gregory Anderson
Assistant Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
“Regulation of toxicity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms by the magnesium transporter MgtE”

Joao Xavier
Assistant Professor, Computational Biology, Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University
“Social evolution theory and biofilms”