Spring 2013
Back: Amanda Walck   Abby Casey   Chelsea Seibert   Katie Spickard   Chelsea Thompson   Melody Nyoni   
Front: Shivani Desai   Lindsay Faust   Samantha Huey   Nene Diallo   Melissa Moyer

Research Advisor: Alan B. Hale, Ph.D.

Research Focus

Millions of children and adults die each year from a diversity of infectious diseases.  Malaria (Plasmodium spp.), AIDS (HIV), polio (poliovirus), tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), tetanus (Clostridium tetani), cholera (Vibrio cholerae) and dysentery (E. coli and others) are just a few.   Many infectious diseases are caused by bacteria or viruses, and in some cases, bacteria carrying viral genes.  The focus of the Hale Lab is to further our understanding of the pathogenic nature of disease-causing agents and to determine how widespread these pathogens are in nature.  Members of the Hale Lab work with bacteria and viruses in an assortment of projects. Over the years some students have conducted DNA and protein studies associated with virulence factors in bacterial species, others have worked with viruses that may or may not carry genes that could convert a bacterium into a pathogen.  And still others have investigated pH resistance, the competitive nature of pathogens, and the impact these pathogens have on red blood cells, murine cell cultures, and normal intestinal flora.  The current focus of the lab is on phage/host interactions and how they relate to phage therapy and other applications of bacteriophage. Our hosts of choice include Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and Chromobacterium violaceum; all four taxa have been known to take up residence within the human intestinal tract.  [Useful Resources]

Some Hosts & Phage

Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Phage KLø1, Enterococcus faecalis, Chromobacterium violaceum

Current Lab Members

      

Research Teams from the Past

Accomplishments & Activities

SyllabusSC118 Schedule
Fall Schedule Spring Schedule
Common Courtesy & Working Effectively in the Lab



- Julia Kelly, Lindsay Faust, Samantha Huey & Melissa Moyer -
Research Retreat in the Poconos [September 2012]



- Emily Eshleman, Danielle Pilla, Brandy Haines, Shannon Ronca, and Laura Werner -
ASM Meeting in San Diego [May 2010]
"Survival and Impact of Specific Viral and Bacterial Pathogens within the Gastric and Intestinal Environments"
- Brandy Haines, Sherri Rennoll, and Dr. Hale ready to share their discoveries* with scientists from around the world. -
* Although not present, Danielle Pilla (co-author) and many others contributed significantly to these discoveries.
"Strains of an Opportunistic Human Pathogen, Chromobacterium violaceum: Hemolytic Activity, pH Resistance,
and Competition with Normal Intestinal Flora"

- Sherri Rennoll, Kristen Rennoll, and Meghan Feltcher ready and waiting for the inevitable barrage of Chromo questions. -
"Variability of Hemolytic Activity and Cytotoxicity of Environmental Isolates of Chromobacterium violaceum"

      - Morgan Schrock, Meghan Feltcher and Kristen Rennoll at their ASM poster in Orlando (May 2006). -
"Virulence Factors Associated with Environmentally Acquired Chromobacterium violaceum and Janthinobacterium lividum"
- Heather Cook, Andy Beyer, Erin Nedderman, Johanna Schwingel,
 Leanne Follweiler, Megan Miller and Amanda Sheard on a
Research Retreat in the Poconos.  -
"Notice the Coke, and not Pepsi, at the head of the table!"
Morgan Schrock, Megan Miller, Kim Bieniek, Johanna Schwingel
Sarah Libertoski and Leanne Follweiler  [Co-authors Heather A. Cook and Andrea Beyer not present.]
- The crew out for dinner in New Orleans after presenting their poster at the 104th ASM Meeting -
"Population-Level Analyses of Phages and Their Bacterial Hosts"

Veteran Members


Alan B. Hale mailto:abhale@cedarcrest.edu
Last updated: 5 January  '13
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