Expertise
As a researcher, my focus is on the interplay between the microscopic world and their surroundings--examining the impact of toxins on cells, and the mechanisms that cells utilize to remediate and restore their surrounding environment.
My research focuses on microbially-mediated resistance to toxic heavy metals, and the role that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has played in the evolution of this ability. Specifically, I am interested in a family of genes which encode transport proteins known as P-type ATPases.
More recently, I have become interested in the impact of heavy metals on microbial communities of salt marshes, particularly the marshes on the South Shore of Long Island.
My research in the field of heavy metal bioremediation focuses on three major questions:
- What kinds of bacteria are capable of bioremediation, and how do these bacteria survive in environments contaminated with hazardous waste?
- What are the structural changes that affect the stability, catalytic efficiency, and substrate specificity of the proteins involved in metal resistance?
- How has horizontal gene transfer (HGT) played a role in the evolution of metal resistance and other environmentally relevant traits?