BA- Biochemistry, Wheaton College, MA
Originally from Maine, Alwyn attended Wheaton College where she pursued her Bachelors in Biochemistry. Her interest in the field of microbiology and host-pathogen interactions first emerged when she took a course on parasitology and symbiosis. She found the underlying complexity in how organisms can exploit host resources to replicate and persist while also developing different strategies to evade stimulating their host’s immune response to be particularly intriguing. Following this interest, as an undergraduate, she worked with Dr. Amy Beumer to understand the role of manganese oxidizing bacteria in drinking water. In addition, she participated in the Summer Research Training Program at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She worked in the lab of Dr. John Williams to identify possible cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes for a peptide-based human metapneumovirus (HMPV) vaccine.
After finishing her Bachelors, she worked as a research technician in the laboratory of Dr. Shumin Tan at Tufts University. The laboratory focuses on understanding how Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) exploits different environmental cues to survive and adapt within its host. She contributed to a project examining the role of PrrAB, an essential two component system (TCS), in coordinating Mtb response to multiple environmental cues. In addition, she contributed to a project examining the role of serine/threonine protein kinases (STPKs) and TCSs in Mtb environmental response regulation to determine how STPKs and TCSs might intersect in enabling coordination of an adaptive response during infection.
Given Alwyn’s previous experience, she joined the Smith’s Lab as a rotation student with an interest in understanding the host-side of Mtb infection using diverse host genotypes using the Collaborative Cross mice.
Outside of lab, Alwyn enjoys baking and is currently learning how to knit.
