VCU Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Jamie Brooks - brooksjl@vcu.edu
Jamie Brooks received her B.S. in Biomedical Science from Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA in 2006. She joined the lab in May 2008 and studies the regulation of PNAG Production in S. aureus.

Melissa Prestosa - prestosama@vcu.edu
Melissa Prestosa received her B.S. in Bioinformatics at VCU in 2010. She joined our lab as a Lab Specialist in 2010 and is working on the Human Vaginal Microbiome Project.

Michael Harwich- harwichmd@vcu.edu
Michael Harwich received his PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from VCU in 2009 and joined our lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow that year. He studies the virulence determinants of bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis. He also works on the Human Vaginal Microbiome project.

Nabil Abraham
Nabil Abraham joined the lab in February 2009 and studied the influence of chelating catheter lock solutions on S. aureus biofilm formation. Nabil graduated in December 2011 and is continuing his training as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Erol Fikrig at Yale University.

Nicole Mackey-Lawrence
Nicole Mackey-Lawrence joined the lab in October 2006 and studied the role of a staphylococcal DNA-binding protein in virulence and immune evasion. She graduated in April 2010 and continued her training as a Post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. William Petri at the University of Virginia.

Jennifer Patterson
Jennifer Patterson joined the lab in May 2006 and worked on the mechanism of biofilm formation in Gardnerella vaginalis. She graduated in April 2010. After her graduation she continued her training as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Juan Martinez at the University of Chicago.

Karl Thompson
Karl Thompson received his Ph.D. in Microbiology in 2006 from Howard University where he conducted his research project on the regulation of a novel small RNA from E. coli at the National Cancer Institue in the laboratory of Dr. Susan Gottesman. He joined our lab in January 2007 and studied the roles of two staphylococcal endoribonucleases on global RNA stability and biofilm formation. He received a faculty position at Howard University and is now an Assistant Professor and runs his own lab. He continues work on Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli.

Nuno Cerca
Nuno Cerca received his B.S. from Portuguese Catholic University, Porto, Portugal in 2000. He received his Ph.D. in 2006 from Minho University, Braga, Portugal where he conducted his research project on staphylococcal biofilms in the laboratory of Dr. Joanna Azeredo. He joined out lab in December 2006 and worked on transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that govern expression of the intercellular adhesin locus in S. aureus. He left the lab in 2007 for a faculty position back at Minho University. He works on biofilm formation in the staphylococci and Gardnerella vaginalis.