Biophysics Postdoc Nick Wood Receives F32
Nick Wood, PhD, postdoctoral researcher in the Marassi laboratory, has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
The three-year, $225,000 award titled "Multi-disciplinary analysis of the role of PagC for outer membrane vesicle biogenesis" aims to define the mechanisms of extracellular vesicle biogenesis in microbial pathogens.
Focusing first on the human enteric pathogen salmonella, the project will use an integrative approach of biophysical, ultrastructural, and biological techniques to understand how the cell surface protein PagC responds to the human host environment to control vesicle formation.
Microbial extracellular vesicle formation is essential for virulence and infectivity, and also provides an attractive platform for biotechnology applications including vaccine development and drug delivery. By shedding light on the processes of vesicle formation by a significant human pathogen, this work will advance understanding of all these areas.