Isaac has transitioned from the Wolfgang Lab into Graduate School. He has joined UNC’s BBSP program. We wish him good luck in his pursuit for his PhD!
NEWS
HBCU-SROP Summer Student
The Wolfgang Lab is excited to host Joshua McLaurin, a rising senior Fayetteville State University, this summer as part of UNC’s HBCU bridge Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP). Josh will gain experience in Pseudomonas genetics as he works on using transposon mutagenesis to identify novel genes involved in antibiotic tolerance.
Winter Rotation Student
We are excited to have Yunan Hu join us for a Winter rotation. Yunan is a first year BBSP student and will be investigating the relationship between quorum sensing and antimicrobial tolerance.
Fall Rotation Student
We are excited to have first-year BBSP graduate student Ida Alam join us for a fall lab rotation. Ida will be working on modeling and understanding viral infection induced pulmonary exacerbations in the context of preexisting chronic bacterial lung infections.
Research Specialist Ryan Bridgeport headed off to Medical School
Congratulations Ryan on starting medical school at the University of South Florida. We are going to miss you but we are excited for you!
MAMPM 2023
The Wolfgang Lab had a blast at the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting in Wintergreen, VA! There were many outstanding talks and posters throughout the whole Meeting! We had excellent poster presentations from Taylor Franklin, Isaac Hughes, Matt Greenwald, and Matt Higgs. Cristian Roca also gave a great talk about understanding transcriptional heterogeneity of Pseudomonas in response to mucus. Additionally, Matt Greenwald was selected as this year’s recipient of the Mark Shirtliff Excellence in Biofilm Research Award!
Happy New Year!
The Wolfgang Lab wishes everyone a Happy New Year. To start out the new year, we tried our hand at some agar art. Not too bad for a first attempt, but thankfully we have all year to improve for next time! We are looking forward to a fun and productive science-filled 2023!
Welcome the latest PhD Candidate, Crisitan Roca
Cristian has passed his preliminary exams and is now a PhD candidate! Cristian’s thesis project involves investigating how the mucus environment impacts population heterogeneity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and how this heterogeneity impacts phenotypes and antibiotic treatment efficacy. Congrats, Cristian!
Presenting the new PhD Candidate in the Lab, Matt Higgs!
Congratulations to Matt Higgs on passing on his oral preliminary exam and getting approval for his thesis project! Matt’s thesis project focuses on how neutrophil effectors influence Pseudomonas behavior and antibiotic tolerance in diseased mucus.
High school student completes summer program in Wolfgang Lab
This summer we hosted a high school student, Sreethan. He gained foundational experience in microbiology and hopes to translate this experience into research on plastic degradation using Pseudomonas. His advice to prospective high school students interested in research, “ask questions and be curious.”
SOLAR Poster Session
Summer undergraduate student, Claire Reist, concluded her time in the Wolfgang lab by presenting her research project at the UNC SOM Summer Undergraduate Symposium. Congratulations, Claire, on being an extremely hard worker and exceptional lab member. Claire will now return to her undergraduate studies at Rollins College for her senior year.
Mentoring High School Student
The Wolfgang lab is excited to have a local high school student shadow us in the lab to learn bacteriology techniques which he hopes to utilize in the future in order to investigate the use of Pseudomonas spp. for plastic degradation.
Shih-Wen Joins The Lab
Our team continues to grow! We are pleased to receive Dr. Shih-Wen Hu as part of the Wolfgang Lab. His public health and translational perspectives will be very valuable for the Wolfgang Lab projects.
Isaac Joins the Wolfgang Lab
Isaac Hughes joined us as a new technician in the Wolfgang Lab.
Cameron Accepted into Graduate School
Congratulations to Cameron Prince for his admission to graduate school at the great Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona! We are excited that one of our Lab members will be studying abroad. We wish all the best for Cameron in his next adventure!
Claire Reist – UNC SOLAR Summer Scholar Joins the Lab
We are excited to have Claire Reist join the Wolfgang Lab as an undergraduate summer student from Rollins College in Wintergreen, Fl. Claire will be working alongside Matt Greenwald to advance our understanding of biofilms and antibiotic tolerance in MADs.
Pseudomonas Conference
Members of the Wolfgang lab attended The International Biennial Conference, Pseudomonas 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many Pseudomonas microbiologists. Matt Higgs and Cristian Roca gave outstanding oral talks and Matthew Greenwald fascinated the crowd with his poster.
Postdoc Position Available in the Wolfgang Lab
A new post-doc position is now available in the Wolfgang Lab!
For more information, send us a message using the contact section of our webpage.
MAMPM Conference
The Wolfgang Lab heads to the Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting (MAMPM) in Wintergreen, Virginia to present their research.
New Rotation Student Joins the Wolfgang Lab
Evan Drage has selected the Wolfgang Lab for his spring rotation. We are excited to see him learn in the lab.
New Research Technician Joins the Wolfgang Lab
Cameron Prince has joined the Wolfgang Lab as a research technician. He will be assisting Taylor in the development of a murine model of chronic airway infection. We are thrilled to have him on our team.
Matt Greenwald Advances to Candidacy
Matt Greenwald has passed his oral preliminary exam and had his thesis topic has been approved. He now advances to a Ph.D. Candidate!
Proposal selected as finalist for the Creativity Hubs Pilot Award program
Our proposal to establish a Center for Therapeutic Systems Biology of Respiratory Infections Diseases (CTSB-RID) at UNC has been selected as a finalist for the Creativity Hubs Pilot Award program at UNC. The CTSB-RID will assist UNC researchers and clinicians in tackling the next pandemic. The Center aims to investigate the underlying cellular and molecular signaling pathways that account for respiratory viral disease and differential outcomes at the clinical level.
North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC)
Matthew Greenwald and Taylor Franklin presented posters at the 2021 North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC). While the conference was completely virtual it was a great opportunity to learn about cystic fibrosis research being performed across the country.
Matt Greenwald Awarded Fellowship
Ph.D. student Matthew Greenwald has been awarded a fellowship from the Synergy CF program! This fellowship provides 3 years of support for Matt to study how interactions between oral anaerobic bacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa impacts lung infection in early CF disease.
New Rotation Student
Ben Darwitz, a first-year PhD student, has entered the Wolfgang Lab for his first rotation. We are excited to have him in the lab.
Now on Twitter
The Wolfgang lab is now on Twitter. Check us out @mwolfganglab
Graduate Student Welcome Ceremony
Matthew Higgs and Cristian Roca were officially welcomed to the Microbiology and Immunology Department at the Graduate Student Welcome event and white coat ceremony.
Cristian Roca Accepted into T32
Cristian Roca has been accepted into the UNC Translational Medicine T32 from the NIGMS. This program is aimed at augmenting the student-research PI team with a clinical co-mentor who helps guide the student’s research and immerses the student in clinical experiences, vocabulary, and the overall culture of clinical research. Congratulations Cristian!
Farewell Suzanne
The Wolfgang Lab bids farewell to lab member Suzanne Meinig as she moves to an exciting new position at a local contract research organization (CRO). Suzanne was with the Wolfgang Lab for 5 years and will be incredibly missed, but we wish her the best in her next venture.
Two New Graduate Students Join the Wolfgang Lab
The Wolfgang lab welcomes two new graduate students, Matthew Higgs (left) and Cristian Roca Avendano (right). We are excited to have them in the lab and to see their research progress.