Staff Spotlight:

Sara Posey, MPH. Sara joined us approximately one year ago and brought a smile, quick wit, a loud laugh, and expertise in epidemiology. She also is tremendous with PowerPoint presentations and many of my slides are a directed generation, my “thoughts” to her “reality.” Presently, Sara is emphasizing our data collection and assessment of our COHRA study and our 3-organism oral signature, and our evolving work in anti-tumor analysis.

Hom Motlagh. Hom brings a most unique background to our laboratory and is perhaps the most fanatical student interested in becoming a dentist. Hom’s academic and initial career is one of military education and training, emphasizing dental work and in preparation of dental school, transitioned nicely into our laboratory. Hom has been a major influence in our wound triphasic model and the initial phases of assessing antibiotic resistance in the world, and organisms associated with chronic wounds.

Student Spotlight:

Students continue to be the focus of our research laboratory, and their growth as health care providers understanding the rigors of good science. 

Tiffany Campbell. Tiffany is an honor student at WVU, being accepted into medical school at Marshall University and WVU. As her senior project, she has been involved in our continuing evolution of biofilms and tumor similarities, addressing therapeutic modalities that could target both in the same patient. We have submitted two abstracts/posters which highlight our very unique findings and a growing collaboration with our Cancer Center at WVU. The first is entitled “Extrapolating Tumor Therapy to Manage Oral Biofilms Simultaneously” and was presented at the Second World Congress of the International Academy of Oral Oncology (IAOOI). The second was Presented at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), as was titled “Effects of Cancer Drugs on Biofilms: Benign, Procaryotic Tumors.”

Curtis Dean. Curtis joined us for the Summer of 2008 as a WV-INBRE student (Federal Grant) and was a real addition. As a Pre-Dental student, his summer research focused on coaggregation and mutualism of selected organisms in the biofilm and focused on methods to establish which organisms coaggregate the most in selected environments. He used both Co-aggregation and synergy studies as screening methods, using Gram-positive and Gram-negative and Candida albicans clinical isolates. He found that certain key organisms clearly have greater coaggregation and mutualism, including Candida albicans and Strep. mutans. Candida is the “universal co-aggregate.” His work was submitted as an after-activity/ poster and accepted for the IADR (International Association for Dental Research), presented in Florida 2009.

Therwa Hamza also spent the summer of 2008 as a rotating Pre-Doctoral Candidate in microbiology, immunology and cellular microbiology. She brought another cultural perspective and keen insight in development of our Tri-Phasic Wound Model. She helped work with specimens from Dr. Randy Walcott in his Southwest Regional Wound Care Center, TX, establishing Poloxamer as a direct recovery for Biofilm-grown isolates.