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)
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 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 Masters and Ph.D. 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
Ph.D. Student
Co-advisor: Dr. Amanda Brown
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
Current Undergraduate Students
Randy Garcia 2021 - TTU
Adolph Salinas 2022 - TTU
Alexandria Rodriquez 2023 - TTU
Bryce Hiner 2023 - TTU
Nina Walker 2023 - TTU
Alumni (Those who moved on)
Ph.D. student:
Karishma Bisht (2017-2021)
Jiwasmika Baishya (2017-2022)
Shariful Islam (2018-2023)
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)
Sandra Alb (Clark's Scholar, 2023)
Undergraduate students:
Stephanie Valdez (2022-2023)
Viviann Robles (2022-2023)
Alexsis Garcia (2020-2022)
Erika Ortiz (2022)
Gretta Poole (2022)
Garrett Matthews (2022)
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)