Education

B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Calgary, 1994

M.Sc. Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, 1996

Ph.D. Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 2000

Postdoctoral Fellowships (2000-2002) from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary.

Biochemistry, physiology, and genetics of bacterial systems

GeneChips Analyses of lung surfactant lipid degradation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a model to lung diseases of cystic fibrosis patients and nosocomial pneumonia

Genetic tools development for bacteria (Burkholderia, E. coli, Sphingobium, and P. aeruginosa)

Physiology and pathogenic mechanisms of Burkholderia pseudomallei

In silico homology modeling (DeepView, http://swissmodel.expasy.org/) of the Burholderia pseudomallei (strain 1026b; DeShazer et al., J. Bacteriol. 179(7):2116-2125) essential Asd protein, using the known Vibrio cholerae Asd structure (Blanco et al., Protein Science 12:27-33) as a template, indicates high homology at the active site. Asd of these two species are much more conserved than compared to the Escherichia coli Asd protein (Hadfield et al. J. Mol. Biol. 289:991-1002).

Abbreviations and Symbols: blue, residues of B. pseudomallei; red, residues of V. cholerae, inhibitor (black, S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide); DAP, diaminopimelic acid; NADP (yellow); and hydrogen bonds (green dashed lines). Amino acid positions are from the B. pseudomallei protein sequence.