Merrick G. Hunter

Merrick was born and raised in Naples, Florida and earned his B.S. in biology from Emory University. During his undergraduate education, he completed research under Dr. Maria Barbian and Dr. Rheinallt Jones, where he studied gene expression in the gastrointestinal tract of neonatal mice after prenatal short-chain fatty acid supplementation.

Merrick joined the Skaar Lab in June 2025 to continue his scientific training. His current work focuses on understanding host-microbe interactions during infection through advanced imaging approaches, identifying novel antimicrobial strategies against bacterial pathogens, and developing new animal models to study complex biological processes in vivo.