Mary Dunlop Awarded NIH and NSF Grants
Professor Mary Dunlop (BME) was recently the recipient of two awards, one from NIH and one from NSF.
The NIH R01 grant, titled “Cell-to-cell heterogeneity and the emergence of antibiotic resistance,” focuses on the initial steps in the emergence of antibiotic resistance, looking at how intrinsic tolerance mechanisms may provide a window of protection that allows bacteria to acquire resistance via horizontal gene transfer or mutation. The resulting data will be relevant for revealing novel routes by which bacteria evade drug treatment and can inform treatment strategies to combat the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Read the NIH Abstract here
The NSF grant, titled “Using optogenetics to characterize signal propagation and control within gene regulatory networks,” aims to uncover fundamental principles of gene regulatory network function by using optogenetics and synthetic biology to study how dynamic signals propagate through networks of varying complexity. Additionally, it supports educational outreach by training high school and undergraduate students in synthetic biology, circuit design, and data analysis.