Amanda is a graduate student in the Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology (MICaB) program. Prior to graduate school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master's degree in Biological Sciences and Biotechnology from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her previous experience includes time spent as a Research Intern in the lab of Dr. Leigh Knodler at Washington State University studying host-pathogen interactions in the context of Salmonella enterica infections and as a Graduate Research Assistant in the lab of Dr. Kelly Doran at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus studying small RNA mediated gene regulation during Group B Streptococcus vaginal colonization.
Currently, Amanda works in the lab of Julia Willett, and her thesis work aims to characterize Enterococcus faecalis pathogenesis during a periprosthetic joint infection (PJIs). She is specifically focused on taking a high throughput approach using multiple clinical isolates of E. faecalis isolated from PJIs to study the genotypic and phenotypic features that are associated with E. faecalis PJIs. Amanda is using comparative genomics and functional genomics to study the mechanisms that drive E. faecalis survival and biofilm formation during a PJI.
After graduate school, Amanda hopes to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship to train to become a principal investigator and run her own research program at an academic institute. She is passionate about undergraduate and graduate education and access to education and feels that these aspirations will allow her to train the next generation of scientists. During her off time, Amanda enjoys biking, open water swimming, cooking, yoga and spending time in her garden.
