Tatyana (Tanya) Sysoeva

Dr. Sysoeva completed her undergraduate studies at Moscow State University and got her PhD at Pennsylvania State University in 2011 working on structural and biophysical characterization of bacterial protein complexes. She proceeded with postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. From 2015 to 2018, she worked with Dr. Lingchong You at Duke University Bioengineering Department and analyzed bacterial genetic exchange that is critical to the spread of antibiotic resistance plaguing modern medicine. In 2017-2018, as part of the Duke KURe program, Tanya focused on the problem of antibiotic resistant uropathogens. Currently at the University of Alabama, her lab focuses on horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in complex microbial communities. They analyze which bacteria, when, and by what mechanism exchange genetic material in their native environments. The lab studies mechanism and regulation of HGT in human pathogenic and commensal bacteria with a far-reaching goal of countering antibiotic resistance spread by modulating DNA exchange. Her funding includes a CAIRIBU Collaboration Award with KURe alumna Maryellen Kelly, and an OHSU Foundational grant. She continues to collaborate with KURe alumna, Naz Siddiqui.