Meilin Zhu (BLAINEY LAB)

Discovering Novel Antibiotic Potentiators for Gram-Negative ESKAPE Pathogens

Each year, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections cause an estimated 700,000 deaths globally. In contrast, the approval rate for new antibiotics continues to decline or remain stagnant. Combination therapy for Gram-negative bacteria is a promising approach to replenish the development pipeline, as they can serve as de facto multitargeting therapies and circumvent resistance mechanisms to known antibiotics. In the Blainey lab, we use DropArray to identify novel antibiotic potentiators through massively parallelized screening.

Elise Gubbins (GRIFFITH & GUO LABS)

Engineering In Vitro Models for Investigating Intestinal Epithelial Organoid Morphogenesis

Morphogenesis, the change in shape or form of a tissue, is an important aspect of development and regeneration. In order to investigate the mechanisms behind such complex in vivo systems, we develop in vitro models that recapitulate parameters of interest in a controlled environment. In this project, we are developing and characterizing an in vitro system to investigate the mechanistic underpinnings of morphogenic processes in intestinal epithelial organoids.