Faculty Name
Jeticia R. Sistrunk, Ph.D.
Title
Assistant Professor
Department
Biology
Phone
404-270-5757
Office Location
Albro-Falconer-Manley Science Center 270
Education
Ph.D., University of Maryland School of MedicineM.P.H., University of Texas School of Public Health
B.S., University of Oklahoma
Biography
I earned a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology and immunology from the University of Maryland School of Medicine where I used comparative genomics and transcriptomics to study the diverse clinical presentations of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) isolates from Bangladesh.As an Emory University FIRST postdoctoral fellow in the Rollins School of Public Health, I continued work studying the impact diarrheal pathogens on human health. My projects including profiling the gut microbiome signatures of asymptomatic gastrointestinal pathogens of Ecuadorian populations, and characterizing the extent of antibiotic resistance in environmental Salmonella enterica isolates from in the southeastern Georgia.
I also taught in the biology department at Spelman College during my FIRST postdoctoral fellowship as an instructor in the microbiology and microbial pathogenesis courses.
Courses Taught
BIO 491 Microbial PathogenesisBIO 491A Introduction to Bioinformatics
BIO 125 Molecular Biology
Research Interests
I am interested in characterizing the risk factors associated with acquiring gastrointestinal infections, and the impact of asymptomatic carriage of gastrointestinal pathogens on the human gut microbiome.I employ a multidisciplinary approach to this work by incorporating microbiology, molecular epidemiology, and microbial genomics to studying these pathogens and their disease dynamics with the goal of informing public health interventions that can reduce the burden of diarrheal infections around the world.
Publications
Sahl, J., Sistrunk, J., Baby, N., Begum, Y., Luo, Q., Sheikh, A., Qadri, F., Fleckenstein, J., Rasko, D. (2017) Insights into enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diversity by comparative genomics. Scientific Reports. 7(1):3402. PMCID: PMC5469772
Nickerson, K., Chanin, R., Sistrunk, J., Rasko, D., Fink, P., Barry, E., Nataro, J., Faherty, C. (2017) Bile Salts Exposure Regulates Shigella Survival and Virulence in the Gastrointestinal Tract. Infect. Immunity. 85(6). pii: e01067-16. PMCID: PMC5442615
Sistrunk, J.R., Nickerson, K,, R Chanin, R., Rasko, D., Faherty, C. (2016). Survival of the Fittest: How Bacterial Pathogens Utilize Bile to Enhance Infection. Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 29(4):819-36. PMCID: PMC5010752
Sahl, J.W., Sistrunk, J.R., Fraser, C.M., Hine, E., Baby, N., Begum, Y., Luo, Q., Sheikh, A., Qadri, F., Fleckenstein, J.M., Rasko, D.A. (2015) Examination of the Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Population Structure during Human Infection. MBio. 6(3):e00501. PMCID: PMC4462620
Luo, Q., Kumar, P., Vickers, T., Sheikh, A., Lewis, W.G., Rasko, D.A., Sistrunk, J., Fleckenstein, J.M. (2014) Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli secrete a highly conserved mucin-degrading metalloprotease to effectively engage intestinal epithelial cells. Infection and Immunity. 82(2):509-21. PMCID: PMC3911403