Alexis Thomas
Hi, my name is Alexis Thomas. I grew up in Rosedale, Indiana and went to college at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and graduated with a degree in microbiology.
Growing up, I was in and out of doctors’ offices and hospitals. I became interested in disease and what makes people sick. That led me to become a human biology major and set a track for medical school. Upon arriving at IU, I heard a presentation on microbiology and I was so intrigued by all the different types of bacteria and pathogens, that I changed my major that day.
Until going to IU, I was never really exposed to the possibility of research as a career path. I began working in a lab my sophomore year and discovered that I enjoyed research. I have always liked doing puzzles. I view research and scientific discovery as a never-ending puzzle. I believe this is what draws me to research.
Even though I started research in my sophomore year, it was not until my senior year that I had felt that I had explored other fields and options, enough to be confident in my decision to go to graduate school and do biomedical research. I am interested in and host pathogen interactions and drug and vaccine development.
It is my plan to work in industry or a government lab in the future. As I decided later that I wanted to go to graduate school, I knew I needed time to learn more about the process and the various career paths available.
When I discovered the PREP program I knew it was the perfect program for me. I am able to do full time research in a field that I am interested in as well as interact with graduate students, something that I did not do as an undergrad. The program allows for me to get an inside look at graduate school and has affirmed my decision to pursue a career in research. PREP at UGA was perfect for me because of the focus on infectious diseases this closely aligns with my interests and goals.
My research mentor is Dr. Carmen Herrera and my faculty mentor is Dr. Stephen Trent.
A focus of the Trent lab is lipid A. Lipid A is the endotoxic portion of Lipopolysacchride or LPS,which is a large molecule on the surface of gram-negative bacteria that has many functions, one of which is inducing an innate immune response. Lipid A is recognized by the immune system via the Toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation factor 2 complex. Activation of this complex by wt ecoli leads to a strong immune response. Lipid A is a diverse molecule, whose structure varies between gram negative bacteria. These bacteria contain enzymes that alter the structure by changing the number of acyl chains, phosphate groups, and polar functional groups. The structure of the lipidA molecule expressed by a bacterium determines how strong the immune response will be.
The goal of my project is to insert lipid A modification genes from other organisms into the E.coli chromosome. Alteration of the lipid A will allow it to be used as a vaccine adjuvant by producing a milder immune response. To alter the structure of the lipid A I will be cloning genes into a plasmid with an antibiotic resistance cassette.
I will use the lambda red recombination system to insert genes as well as delete others. Once a modification has been confirmed genetically through PCR and sequencing, we can isolate the LipidA molecule from the bacteria, and visualize the changes through radiolabling and running it on a TLC plate.
My name is Alexis Thomas and I am a PREP@UGA scholar.