Current members:
Catherine Wakeman
catherine.wakeman@ttu.edu
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
Texas Tech University
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Postdoc, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University (2011-2016)
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Postdoc, Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (2010-2011)
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Ph.D., Molecular Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (2009)
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B.S., Biology, Louisiana Tech University (2004)
Shariful Islam
shariful.islam@ttu.edu
Ph.D. Candidate
I completed my Undergraduate in Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering from Khulna University, Bangladesh. I have always had a fascination for microbes related research & completed my undergraduate thesis on Mastitis related bacteria in cattle. I started my PhD in Wakeman Lab in Spring, 2019. Currently, our team is trying to understand the mechanism of how different types of metals affect the infection of plants and humans by P. aeruginosa. I am a professional soccer player and always love to play soccer. I love traveling and gardening.
I received my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. I received a second Master of Science degree in Microbiology from Soonchunhyang University, South Korea. I joined the Wakeman Lab in fall’19 as a Ph.D. student. My research focuses on understanding the mechanism involved in polymicrobial interaction during infection, especially the interaction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Staphylococcus aureus and Cryptococcus neoformans in cystic fibrosis infection.
Hafij Al Mahmud
hafij-al.mahmud@ttu.edu
Ph.D. Candidate
I completed my Bachelor and Masters in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. After graduation, I served at International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). In the Wakeman Lab at TTU, I am keen to explore the underlying mechanism of sepsis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and find out biomarkers for efficient diagnosis of the life-threatening infection.
Md Siddiqur Rahman
mdsirahm@ttu.edu
Ph.D. Student
Co-advisor: Dr. Abdul Hamood
I received my Bachelor of Science in Biology (Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) from the University of Texas at Austin and recently got my Master of Science in Microbiology at Texas Tech University. My research focuses on how polymicrobial communities affect the minimum inhibitory concentration of antibiotics. I am specifically looking at interactions between four species: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Enterococcus faecalis. Outside of lab I enjoy reading and writing for fun.
Caroline Black
caroline.black@ttu.edu
Ph.D. Student
I received an Associate’s of Science in Biology from Western Texas College in 2017. I then pursued a Bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology at Texas Tech University; it was during this time I joined the Wakeman lab and found a passion for research. Following graduation in 2020, I decided to stay in the Wakeman lab and pursue a Master’s degree. My current interests are developing a working test model in crickets and genomic assemblies; however, I also study the how temperature can effect the biofilm of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Alex Luecke
alex.luecke@ttu.edu
Masters Student
Co-advisor: Dr. Amanda Brown
Current Undergraduate Students
Gretta Poole 2022 - TTU
Garrett Matthews 2022 - TTU
Adolph Salinas 2022 - TTU
Erika Ortiz 2022 - TTU
Stephanie Valdez 2022 - TTU
Viviann Robles 2022 - TTU
Randy Garcia 2021-TTU
Alexsis Garcia 2020-TTU
Alumni (Those who moved on)
Ph.D. student:
Karishma Bisht (2017-2021)
Jiwasmika Baishya (2017-2022)
Masters student:
Shivani Patel (TTU Biotechnology Program) (2017-2019)
Jeanette Rimbey (2018-2020)
Kiddist Yihunie (2019-2021)
Jayc Waller (2020-2022)
Others:
Moamen Elmassry (Research Assistant, Summer 2019)
Aiswarya Pillai (Clarks Scholar, 2018)
Sophie Bekerman (Clarks Scholar, 2019)
Priyanka Mathews (Clark's Scholar, 2022)
Undergraduate students:
Darian Winkle (2021-2022)
Ryan Singleterry (2022)
Anna Callender (2019-2022)
Emeka Okafor 2021-2022)
Quynh Ho (2021-2022)
Kate Omalley (2020-2022)
Jared Peyton (2020-2021)
Barrett Meeks (2020-2021)
Kyle Ortega (2020-2021)
McKay Hunter (2020-2021)
Brenley Perez (2018- 2021)
Alex Alem (2019-2020)
Jeremie Morris (2018- 2019)
Josef Fowler (2017- 2019)
Marianna Moncrief (2018- 2019)
Peyton Webster (2018-2019)
Jennifer Herrera (2018-2019)
Andrew Salazar (2018-2019)
Markos Zinah (2018-2019)
Kate Rentschler (2017-2019)
Jake Sellers (2017-2018)
Obadeh Shabaneh (2017-2018)
Brittany Herrin (2017-2018)
Austin Brown (2017-2018)
Riley Powers (2017)
Lauren Pert (2017)
Helen Scott (2016-2017)