People

Principal Investigator

Robert Woods

robertwo@med.umich.edu

Short CV

  • Fellowship (ID) at University of Michigan 2014
  • 2011: Internal Medicine Residency at University of Michigan
  • 2009: MD at University of Chicago
  • 2005: PhD at Michigan State University

Research interests

My clinical work includes inpatient and outpatient general infectious disease and HIV care. My research focuses on the evolutionary dynamics of human pathogens. My current work involves the evolutionary genetics of rotavirus. I use mathematical modeling, bioinformatics, and experimental approaches to estimate patterns of global spread and antigenic evolution of rotavirus. I recently begun applying similar techniques to understand the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the hospital setting, with a focus on vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE).

Lab Manager

Aline Penkevich

apenkevi@umich.edu

Short CV

  • 2009: BS Biology at CEUNSP, Brazil

Research interests

After college I worked in the industry with microbiology of food for a few years, and then joined Dr. Vincent Young’s lab at the University of Michigan to work with Clostridium difficile. I recently joined the Woods lab as a lab manager to handle day-to-day operations and delving more into the world of VRE and the evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

List of publications

Technician

Jessica Wallace

wallajes@med.umich.edu

Postdocs

Clare Kinnear

ckinnear@med.umich.edu

Research interests

My current research addresses the mechanisms for selection of antibiotic resistance in a hospital setting. In particular, I am focused on the impact of antibiotic use on the emergence of resistance in the microbiota; understanding how hospital policy around treatment and prevention impacts resistance; and how we can limit resistance emergence and spread within the hospital.

Camilo Barbosa

barbosap@med.umich.edu

Short CV

  • Aug 2019 – Present: DFG Postdoctoral Fellow at UMICH
  • Aug 2017 – May 2019: EvoLUNG – Postdoc at Kiel University, Germany
  • Jan 2013 – Jul 2017: PhD student at the IMPRS for Evolutionary Biology at Kiel University, Germany
  • Jan 2011 – Jul 2012: MS Life Sciences/Microbiology at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia
  • Aug 2006 – Dec 2010: BS Microbiology at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia

Research interests

How can we stop bacteria’s evolutionary march towards antibiotic resistance? Can we predict evolution and prevent bacteria from reaching undesirable adaptive peaks in the presence of antibiotics? How can we maximize the cost of resistance? My research interests aim at tackling such questions using a combination of experimental evolution, genomics and genetics, clinical data mining and statistical tools.

List of publications

Kenetta Nunn

nunnk@med.umich.edu

Short CV

  • Present — Postdoctoral Research Fellow 
  • 2020 — PhD Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Idaho
  • 2014 — MS Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • 2007 — BS Biology, Duke University

Research interests

I am broadly interested in understanding how infectious diseases establish and spread in addition to the factors that impact disease risks. For most of my work, I have focused specifically on women’s health evaluating the influence of the vaginal mucosa and microbiome on risk to disease. To address many of my research questions, I have used a combination of culture-based methods and bioinformatic analysis of proteomic, metagenomic, and clinical microbiome data.

List of publications

Graduate Students

Jess Millar

jamiller@umich.edu

Short CV

  • 2017 to date: Graduate Student at the University of Michigan
  • 2017: MS Statistics, Portland State
  • 2017: MS Biology, Portland State
  • 2014:  Micro/Molecular Biology, Health Studies, & Science, Portland State

Research interests

My academic interests include microbiology, statistical analysis, and epidemiology of infectious diseases. My current work in the Woods lab is quantifying transmission of VRE within the Michigan Medicine hospital system. For more details, click here.

List of publications

Kevin Tracy

ktracy@umich.edu

Short CV

  • September 2018 – Present: PhD Student, Bioinformatics, University of Michigan
  • May 2018: BS Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University

Research interests

My research looks at the evolution and transmission of Enterococcus Faecium in hospital settings.  I utilize genomic and phylogenetic methods to study the emergence of antibiotic resistance and their spread in hospital environments

Masters Students

Meghan Linder

melinder@med.umich.edu

Short CV

  • September 2018 – present: MPH student, Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology
  • May 2018: BS Biology, Illinois Wesleyan University

Research interests

My academic interests include antimicrobial resistance, disease transmission, and molecular epidemiology. My research investigates the role of bacteriophage in VRE colonization.

Collaborators

Former Members

UROP

  • Jordan McKaig – Senior thesis -2019
  • Sarah Cooke – 2016/17
  • Mushtary Chowdhury – 2017/18
  • Sopuluchukwu Anidobu – 2018
  • Zachariah Farah – 2018/19
  • Doreen Al Qawasmeh – 2018/19

Staff

  • Gordon Hagen – Lab manager – 2016
  • Jaclyn Tolles – Lab tech – 2016
  • Meghan Forstchen – Lab tech – 2018
  • Laura Koeppin – Lab manager – 2019
  • Madison Blondin – Lab manager – 2019

Undergrad techs

Sarah Cooke

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