Meet our Researchers
Jessica Marshall
Undergraduate research assistant studying Biomedical Science with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. Her research focuses on Multiple-Locus VNTR Analysis of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that is the causative agent of plague.
Matthew Morales
Undergraduate Researcher studying Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry. His work focuses on maintaining the hACE2 mouse colony for the HCMMC. The hACE2 murine model advances the understanding of disease progression of COVID-19.
Noor Saeed
Undergraduate research assistant working on antimicrobial resistance mechanisms of Burkholderia psuedomallei, a bacterium that has the potential for bioterrorism. Working in a lab environment helped prepare her for dental school.
Roxanne Nottingham
After graduating from NAU with a degree in biology, Roxanne became the Laboratory Research Facility Admin Manager. She maintains compliance in the PMI SA BSL3 Facility and contributes to many bacterial select agent projects.
Sierra Jaramillo
Undergraduate research assistant studying microbiology with a minor in chemistry. Works on novel fungal species closely related to known human and mammalian pathogens. The goal is to elucidate their role in the environment.
Dawn Birdsell
With the focus on developing the next generation workforce, Dawn designs and organizes hands-on science training programs for PMI undergraduates. These programs fosters foundational skills essential for career success.
George Testo
Searching for the underlying mechanisms for chronic diseases, Research Assistant focused on the study of gut microbiota and its effects on host health with experience in next-generational sequencing (NGS) workflow.
Adriana Avery
Research Assistant studying the basics of practical computing for biologists and learning how to analyze bacterial genomic sequences using computational tools, such as NCBI Blast and Mauve Align.
Kaitlyn Parra
Undergraduate research assistant studying microbiology with a minor in chemistry. Kaitlyn’s research is focused on novel fungal species closely related to known human and mammalian pathogens.
Breezy Brock
Research Assistant studying the prevalence, movement, and evolution of pathogens such as West Nile Virus (WNV), Rabies Virus, COVID 19, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus sobrinus.
Heather Mead
Manager of ABSL3 Facility, PhD Candidate in Biology, Heather manages day-to-day operations in the ABSL3 and facilitates smooth workflow, compliance with biosafety protocols and training of new staff.
Bridget Barker
Director of HCMMC, Associate Professor in Biology, Bridget oversees the HCMMC facility and supervises in vivo COVID-19 research effort and specialized in Coccidioides research.