Our Team
We are building an interdisciplinary lab, with interests spanning molecular microbiology, computational systems biology and infectious disease.
Andrew Pountain
Assistant Professor/PI
I am a microbial systems biologist with interests in transcriptional technologies, computational biology, and microbial pathogens.
PhD: University of Glasgow (Advisor Prof. Michael Barrett)
Postdocs: UT McGovern Medical School (Advisor Dr. Michael Lorenz) and NYU Grossman School of Medicine (Advisor Dr. Itai Yanai)
Qi Xu
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am a microbial researcher studying pathogenesis and the complex interactions within and between bacterial species during infection.
Master: University of California, Irvine (Advisor Dr. Weian Zhao)
PhD: Rice University (Advisor Dr. Natasha Kirienko)
In my free time, I love baking and cooking 😛
Daria Reshetnikova
PhD Student
I am a PhD student passionate about bacterial adaptation and stress responses. I’m especially interested in how pathogens evolve under pressure and how bioinformatics can help uncover hidden genomic patterns.
I am currently exploring bioinformatics and data analysis as potential directions for my future career and doing my best to gradually build the necessary skills.
Bachelor: Kazan Federal University, Russia (Biology, 2016–2020)
Master: Kazan Federal University, Russia (Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, 2020–2022)
(Advisor: Dr. R.G. Kiyamova)
In my free time, I enjoy painting by numbers, playing chess, and hiking
Gregory Mendez
PhD Student
I am a PhD student interested in bacterial gene regulation and how bacteria respond to stress, especially how differences in gene regulation can contribute to bacterial survival and adaptation. I am particularly interested in understanding how and why genetically similar bacterial cells can respond differently to the same environmental stress.
A current area of interest for me is exploring how bacterial biofilms respond to antibiotic exposure and how gene expression differs between individual cells within a population.
Bachelor: The University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (2020–2024)
In my free time, I enjoy playing video games, spending time with friends and family, and watching scary movies.