New faculty members join Biological Sciences
New faculty members join Biological Sciences
The Division of Biological Sciences is pleased to welcome two outstanding new faculty members.
Dr. Corri Hamilton earned her Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studies the complex relationships between plants and the microbes that live in and around them, focusing on how these interactions can be either beneficial or harmful. Her research investigates how the environment within a plant influences bacterial behavior, using the Ralstonia-tomato system to understand bacterial wilt disease and the Arabidopsis-Pseudomonas interaction to explore the difference between helpful and harmful bacteria. By examining the molecular mechanisms and communication signals that drive these relationships, Dr. Hamilton aims to uncover the factors that determine whether a microbe becomes a friend or foe and provide insights into our fundamental understanding of host-microbe interactions.
Read her faculty profile to learn more about Dr. Hamilton.
Dr. Jie Zhu earned his Ph.D. in plant biology from the University of Georgia, Athens. He studies the complex interactions between plants and disease-causing microbes. Focusing on the initial infection stage, where only a small, diverse group of plant cells interact with the pathogen, he investigates how these cells communicate and coordinate their immune responses with neighboring cells. Pathogens use proteins called “effectors” to cause disease, and resistant plants can recognize these effectors, triggering defenses. Using advanced techniques, like single-cell/spatial transcriptomics and confocal microscopy, Dr. Zhu is mapping the spatial distribution of both plant immune responses and pathogen effectors. By understanding the spatial dynamics of these interactions, his research will shed light on how plants respond to bacterial and fungal infections and how pathogens manipulate their own disease-causing genes.
Read his faculty profile to learn more about Dr. Zhu.
