Eliotte G
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

Expertise

Microbiology, immunology, immunotherapy development, genomics, phage therapy, genetics, metagenomics

Bio

I was born and raised in Alta, Utah (skiing, anyone?) and earned my BA in Biology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. My senior thesis focused on isolating viruses from raw sewage that could be used as an antibiotic alternative for individuals suffering from traveller's diarrhea (caused by a strain of E. coli). I also spent several years working in behavioral neuroscience researching the neural mechanisms of addiction, and then switched to working on immunotherapy development for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia for two years before going to graduate school to pursue my Ph.D. In 2020 I started my Ph.D. in microbiology at UC Berkeley as an NSF graduate research fellow and focus my research on bacterial identity and the impact of identity on population structure and building. I get to do a ton of fun microscopy and would love to tell you about how bacteria form populations and communicate their identity with others!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Public perceptions of bacteriophage therapy

Humans are quickly approaching an era in which we're running out of tools to fight bacterial infections. You've likely heard of antibiotic-multi-drug-resistant (MDR) infections, and scientists are scrambling to find alternative treatments to stave off the growing number of MDR bacteria that are infecting humans. Bacteriophage (or phage for short) are viruses that kill bacterial cells and have been considered (and used) as treatments for MDR infections both on food and in people, and may be a solution to the growing issue of MDR bugs on the planet. However, post-pandemic the public perception of viruses is incredibly negative and phage therapy also has a Communist past that has negatively impacted the viability of phage therapy in the west. This research project aims to gain quantitative and qualitative data in order to better understand the public perception of phage therapy as a viable option to address one of humanity's emerging threats.

Cloning using CRISPR?

CRISPR has emerged as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of our lifetimes. Now, scientists have the ability to select and edit genes with an ease that was unthinkable a decade ago. But does CRISPR also open the door for human cloning? In this project we'll dive deep into understanding how CRISPR works and dive into the literature and bio-ethics of human cloning. This project could be turned into a great citizen science class that could be presented to your local communities, made into a podcast, and/or compiled into a journal article for submission. Pictured above is Dolly the sheep, do a quick google to learn more!

Coding skills

Python, LaTeX

Languages I know

French

Teaching experience

While I was an undergraduate at Reed College I was a TA (teaching assistant) for general biology, microbiology, organic chemistry, behavioral neuroscience. I also tutored health care workers in math, biology, and paper editing through the Service Employees International Union. Finally, I was a mentor for undergraduates and high school students in a clinical research lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. As a graduate student I've taught general biology and am preparing to teach bacterial genetics and genomics in the spring!