I grew up between Columbia, Missouri and Mexico City, Mexico. I received my B.S. in Biology from the University of Missouri. I received my Ph.D. in Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology from Cornell University. My dissertation studies in the laboratory of Dr. Christine Smart focused on understanding how the Gram-positive pathogen Clavibacter michiganensis colonizes and thrives in the tomato vascular system, and how wild tomato relatives from the Andes mountains resist the disease it causes. I began my postdoctoral fellowship in 2020 with Dr. Borden Lacy to expand my training and to develop my independent research program.
Clostridioides difficile infection is the number one cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis in the USA. This Gram-positive bacterial pathogen produces two large, homologous protein toxins, TcdA and TcdB, which cause disease pathogenesis. The toxin-mediated nature of this disease make understanding the function of C. difficile toxins in vivo a high priority. My research aims to elucidate the mechanisms used by each toxin to cause diarrhea, pseudomembranes, and to perturb innate immune pathways that may be deleterious to the host.
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and received my Bachelors degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao. I then moved to the University of Pennsylvania to continue my graduate studies. My thesis work in Dr. Sunny Shin's laboratory focused on human-specific inflammasome responses against Salmonella infection. I joined the Skaar Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2019 studying host-pathogen interactions in the context of Staphylococcus aureus infection.
Photo Credit: Erica Brechtelsbauer / AP Images for HHMI
My main project focuses on defining S. aureus regulatory systems that respond to environmental stresses during infection. Although once considered to be a predominantly extracellular pathogen, a growing body of literature describes an important intracellular macrophage reservoir of S. aureus that is poorly accessed by antibiotics and facilitates survival within the host. I seek to understand the interaction of intracellular S. aureus with macrophages as it could provide insight into the development of therapeutics to treat this bacterial reservoir.
Other Honors:
Academic Pathways Fellow
HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellow
BWF PDEP Fellow