{"650705":{"#nid":"650705","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Juan P Barraza","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Biology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJuan P Barraza\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWill defend his dissertation\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuantitative characterization of microbial communities \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Emicro-biogeography during infectious disease.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWednesday September 22nd, 2021\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E1 PM\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bluejeans.com\/462146884\/0639\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/bluejeans.com\/462146884\/0639\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EThesis Advisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMarvin Whiteley, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESam Brown, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrian Hammer, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWilliam Ratcliff, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPeter Yunker, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EABSTRACT:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESpatial structure, the arrangement of organisms in space, is an essential feature of life. It provides a mechanism for speciation, promotes niche development and shapes community function. The spatial structure of communities of animals and plants has been thoroughly characterized, but that of microbial communities, which impact many aspects of life including human health, is \u0026nbsp;poorly understood. Interactions between microbes within a community during infection often result in increased tolerance to antibiotics and worse clinical outcomes. My thesis draws upon techniques from molecular biology, fluorescence microscopy, community ecology and computer science to build a framework to quantitatively characterize the spatial structure of microbial communities at the micron scale and aims to characterize bacterial interactions during infection and their impact on human health.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInteractions can be broadly classified as competitive or cooperative, and I use two different infection models to explore each one. To observe the impact competitive interactions, I use a model community of \u003Cem\u003EP. aeruginosa \u003C\/em\u003Eand \u003Cem\u003ES. aureus\u003C\/em\u003E in a mouse chronic wound infection model. These two microbes co-exist in many infections, but most of their characterized interactions involve growth inhibition and killing. To observe the impact of cooperative interactions, I use \u003Cem\u003ES. gordonii\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003EA. actinomycetemcomitans\u003C\/em\u003E in a mouse abscess model. These two microbes co-exist in the oral cavity and abscesses, and exchange nutrients, including lactate, to grow more effectively. We collected images of these bacterial communities during infection and identified how interactions within microbial communities can impact the aggregation, abundance, and distribution in space of its members. Specifically, P. aeruginosa-secreted antimicrobial HQNO increases the number of planktonic cells in S. aureus and increases the micron-scale enrichment distance between these two microbes. We also show that lactate released by \u003Cem\u003ES. gordonii\u003C\/em\u003E reduces the micron-scale enrichment distance between \u003Cem\u003ES. gordonii\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003EA. actinomycetemcomitans\u003C\/em\u003E. Overall, this works focused on developing tools for the exploration of micron-scale spatial structure and its impact on bacterial physiology during infection.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"  Quantitative characterization of microbial communities  micro-biogeography during infectious disease."}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2021-09-13 17:23:50","changed_gmt":"2021-09-13 17:23:50","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2021-09-22T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2021-09-22T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2021-09-22T16:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2021-09-22 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2021-09-22 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2021-09-22 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"177814","name":"Postdoc"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}