{"674368":{"#nid":"674368","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Ben Metcalf","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Ein the School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBenjamin Metcalf\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDefends his thesis:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Interrelationship Between Bacterial and Societal Factors Drives Pneumococcal Transmission and Disease Progression\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWednesday, May 1, 2024\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E2:00pm\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBME Whitaker building, Room 1214\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThesis Advisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Sam Brown, Advisor\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003ECo-Advisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDr. Kristofer Wollein Waldetoft, Co-Advisor\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\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\u003EDr. Marvin Whiteley\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Joshua Weitz\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrevious Affiliation: School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCurrent Affiliation: School of Biology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cem\u003EUniversity of Maryland\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Joe Lachance\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Bernard Beall\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDivision of Bacterial Diseases\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECenters for Disease Control and Prevention\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EStreptococcus pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E (Spn) is a gram-positive opportunistic pathogen and a leading cause of bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis worldwide. Spn is typically categorized by serotype and in most cases colonizes the nasopharynx asymptomatically (defined as carriage). On rare occasions, it can spread into normally sterile sites and cause severe infections known as invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Both the ability of Spn to cause these life-threatening illnesses (\u003Cem\u003Ei.e.,\u003C\/em\u003E its invasiveness) and the length of time in carriage (\u003Cem\u003Ei.e.,\u003C\/em\u003E its carriage duration) vary substantially across serotypes. IPD cases can occur in isolation or, occasionally, spread as localized outbreaks, often arising within disadvantaged communities like people experiencing homelessness (PEH) and people who inject drugs (PWID). In this dissertation, we seek to explore how pneumococcal life-history traits, host demographic factors, and the interrelationships between them can impact invasive disease at the population level.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Chapter Two we show that\u0026nbsp;variation in carriage duration can confound serotype invasiveness measurements and identify the best performing metrics for invasiveness. Our results also support previous work showing that when invasion occurs, it does so at or near the time of carriage acquisition. In Chapter Three we show that Spn transmission is host density-dependent, resulting in a stratification of serotypes by human population density. The fourth chapter provides evidence that the risk of IPD and IPD clustering is in part governed by human social conditions, with increased risks in disadvantaged populations. In the final discussion chapter, we provide a broader discussion of potential future directions of research, building on the work in this thesis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Interrelationship Between Bacterial and Societal Factors Drives Pneumococcal Transmission and Disease Progression\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Interrelationship Between Bacterial and Societal Factors Drives Pneumococcal Transmission and Disease Progression"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2024-04-24 20:05:11","changed_gmt":"2024-04-24 20:05:11","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2024-05-01T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2024-05-01T17:00:03-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2024-05-01T17:00:03-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2024-05-01 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2024-05-01 21:00:03","gmt_time_end_last":"2024-05-01 21:00:03","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"BME Whitaker building, Room 1214","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":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}