Current Lab Members

Jonathan Hardy (Principal Investigator)

Jonathan Hardy is from Wyoming, the Equality State.
He has a B.S in Cell and Molecular Biology
from the University of Washington in Seattle
and a Ph.D. from Stanford.

In addition to a lifelong interest in All Things Microbial,
he is a rockhound and likes to collect fossils.

Kayla Conner
B.S. Biology, Middle Tennessee State University (2017)
Ph.D. Candidate
​Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Placental infection caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm labor. The mechanisms underlying Lm-induced preterm labor are poorly understood. I study how Lm infection during pregnancy alters metabolism in the placenta, and how altered placental metabolism can contribute to the occurrence of preterm labor. 

Justin Lee
B.S. Biotechnology, Cal Poly Pomona (2014)
M.S. Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Pomona (2017)
Graduate student
​Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics ​

Jon Kaletka
B.S. Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2017)
Graduate Student
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

A novel cellular communication method that is just now being characterized is the use of extracellular vesicles, tiny sac-like particles that carry a variety of signaling molecules and are excreted by nearly every cell type in the body. They have been implicated in a number of diseases, and my work focuses on how Listeria monocytogenes infection alters the production of these vesicles, and how they can regulate an immune response.

Former Lab Members

Angela DeTomaso
B.S. Microbiology, Michigan State University (2014)
B.S. Genomics and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University (2014)
M.P.H. Candidate, George Washington University