Washington University in St Louis
Courtney Reichhardt, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research program leverages her unique multidisciplinary training to answer important questions about the fundamental biophysical principles of biofilm matrix assembly. Biofilms are communities of microbes that are encased in a self-produced biopolymer-rich extracellular matrix and often cause chronic infections (e.g., chronic wounds or cystic fibrosis (CF) lung infections). Currently, her research program is focused on elucidating an atomic-level understanding of biofilm matrix intermolecular interactions and the role of these interactions during biofilm development and in the host infection environment.
During her Ph.D. research with Professor Lynette Cegelski in the Department of Chemistry at Stanford University, she pioneered an approach that integrated solid-state NMR and electron microscopy analyses to quantitate the composition of biofilms. This had been a challenging problem because biofilms and their extracellular matrices are insoluble and non-crystalline, and as such, are difficult to study using many other biochemical and biophysical techniques. To expand her skill set, she opted to do my postdoctoral training in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington with Professor Matthew Parsek, who is a recognized leader in biofilm microbiology. Publications from her postdoctoral work describe protective intermolecular interactions in the biofilm matrix of the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa that allow for persistence in environments like those that it encounters during chronic CF lung infections.
Her current research is supported by two postdoc-to-faculty transition fellowships: a K99/R00 “Pathway to Independence” Award from the NIH (NIGMS) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Postdoc-to-Faculty Award.
Saturday, November 5, 2022
9:45 AM – 11:45 AM ET