Staff:
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Susana Mouriño, PhD Research Associate 2012 – Present smourino@rx.umaryland.edu |
Susana received her PhD from the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology at Santiago de Compostela University in Spain. She is the resident gene jock and lab guru!! Her research is focused on the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of heme uptake in P. aeruginosa. Through a combination of bacterial genetics, biochemical, and metabolomic analysis we are investigating the link between extracellular heme flux and the transcriptional and post-transcriptional heme and biliverdin regulatory network. In collaboration with our colleague Amanda Oglesby, Susanna is defining the role of the recently identified heme regulated sRNA PrrH in the regulation of heme uptake and metabolism.
Graduate Students:
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Sheneil K. Black BS, Bard College/MS, SUNY at Stony Brook 2021 – Present skblack@umaryland.edu |
Sheneil is working on understanding the contribution of the non-redundant heme uptake systems (Has and Phu) of P. aeruginosa and their contributions to virulence and pathogenesis. She is combining biophysical, biochemical, isotopic labeling and bacterial genetics to determine the contributions of the respective outer membrane receptors to extracellular heme uptake. Additionally, she is combining site-directed mutagenesis and biophysical methods in characterizing the receptors and their variants in lipid nanodiscs for X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM in collaboration with Bill Lanzilotta at the University of Georgia.
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Riki Egoshi BS, University of Maryland Baltimore County 2021 – Present regoshi@umaryland.edu |
Riki is studying the central role of the P. aeruginosa cytoplasmic heme binding protein PhuS in heme trafficking and regulation of the PrrF and PrrH sRNAs. She is combining bacterial genetics, biochemical and biophysical approaches to further understand how heme utilization is integrated into the iron-regulated sRNA network. The central role of the sRNAs in iron-homeostasis and virulence implicates PhuS as a key factor in the maintenance of P. aeruginosa iron homeostasis.
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Kieran Johnson BS, California Polytechnic State University SLO 2024 – Present hjohnson1@umaryland.edu |
Kieran is a joint student with Professor Fengtian Xue working on the the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting heme metabolism in P. aeruginosa. In Dr. Xue’s group they are synthesizing novel salophen inhibitors of the P. aeruginosa extracellular heme signaling and uptake pathways. In the Wilks lab they are combining biochemical assays in the biological evaluation of lead compounds for SAR and chemical optimization.
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Saba Shahzad BS, Notre Dame University of Maryland 2021-present sshahzad@rx.umaryland.edu |
Saba is working on understanding the contribution of the P. aeruginosa biliverdin metabolites to virulence and pathogenesis. She is specifically interested in the role of the HemO specific metabolites biliverdin beta and delta and their role in signaling and adaptation within the host. She is utilizing a combination of bacterial genetics, proteomics and metabolomics to further understand the physiological role of the biliverdin isomers using previously constructed hemO allelic strains. Saba is also investigating the complex transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of the hemO gene which we have previously shown is important in acute infection.
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Natalya Brown BS, University of Maryland College Park 2025 – Present nbrown1@umaryland.edu |
Natalya is a joint student with Professor Fengtian Xue working on the the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting heme signaling and uptake in P. aeruginosa. In Dr. Xue’s group she is synthesizing next generation salophen complexes targeting P. aeruginosa extracellular heme signaling . In the Wilks lab she is developing bacterial reporter assays for the evaluation of P. aeruginosa biofilm formation, and for high-throughput screening of proprietary compound libraries.
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Nicholas Montes BS, University of Maryland, College Park 2021 – Present nmontes@umaryland.edu |
Nick is working jointly with Professor Maureen Kane studying the central role of the P. aeruginosa cytoplasmic heme binding protein PhuS in heme trafficking and regulation. He is combining bacterial genetics, biochemical and mass spectrometry methods in further understanding the cellular connection between PhuS and the iron-regulated PrrF sRNAs. The central role of the sRNAs in iron-homeostasis and virulence implicates PhuS as a critical player in the integration of heme utilization and iron homeostasis.