Biographical Sketch:

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS in 1988. From 1989-1991, I worked at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama, as a senior research assistant on a project that studied the evolutionary divergence of alpheids (snapping shrimp) across the Isthmus of Panama (Science, Knowlton et al ; Proceedings article, Knowlton and Mills in CV). In 1991, I returned to Texas and in 1993 earned my MS in Biology from Texas Christian University. My thesis project studied the lethal effects of ultraviolet light (UV) and various photosensitizers on the nematode, Caenorhabditis. elegans.

From 1994-1996, I worked for the Center Radiation Biology Branch, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD. The project was focused on the risk of using UV-emitting medical devices to treat HIV-infected dermatology patients. It had been shown that UV activated HIV in vitro and patient safety of using UV treatment was in question.

In 1996, I began my doctoral studies at George Mason University in Fairfax , VA. During that time, I tested and optimized several molecular tools to study the microbial community dynamics during bioremediation of hydrocarbons.

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After graduation, I moved to Miami, FL with my husband and joined Florida International University (FIU) as the manager of the DNA sequencing CORE laboratory. During that time, I began to build collaborations with FIU faculty members in the Dept. of Biological Sciences, the School of Computer Sciences and http://www.cs.fiu.edu/~giri/index.html) and the International Forensics Research Institute.

 

Research

Soil Microbial communities.

I am currently a NSF ADVANCE Fellow and Visiting Scholar at FIU. My research interests are elucidating the link between microbial community structure and function and the environmental drivers that influence them (NSF ADVANCE abstract and ADVANCE site) . Because microbial populations operate at spatio-temporal scales far removed from typical human perception, it has been difficult in the past to investigate their role in complex ecosystem behavior

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However, with the expanded use of molecular methods combined with computational tools, these limitations are rapidly decreasing. Molecular techniques for studying the structural diversity in ecosystems (i.e., soil, marine, aquatic) are now available. These molecular data can be correlated with the physical, biogeochemical, and chemical/nutrient data. Because of the wealth of data that can be produced in such comprehensive community analysis, bio- and eco-informatics tools that can better interrogate those data will also continue to be developed ( Pat Gillevet's site and Giri's site ). The integration of molecular biology, microbiology, and computational science is essential to unraveling the intricacies of complex microbial communities in situ . The long-term goal of the NSF soil project is to determine at what scale these critical components need to be tracked in order to develop a community-wide ecosystem picture. Once the scale is determined, much will be learned about microbial communities as they interact both structurally and functionally as they respond to natural or introduced environmental 'drivers'.

Other research projects:

Black Band Disease:

In collaboration with Dr. Laurie Richardson , we are actively studying the microbial communities associated with coral diseases, in particular, black band disease. In a grant funded by NIH, we will be looking at the “Microbial Community Organization and Development of a Pathogenic Microbial Consortium.”

Among the most complex microbial communities are pathogenic microbial consortia whose members function synergistically to take advantage of hosts. One such pathogenic microbial consortium is black band disease (BBD) of corals. BBD is a unique host/pathogen association in which a cyanobacterial dominated, laminated microbial mat (i.e. thick biofilm) infects and kills coral tissue. The consortium is highly structured, with dynamic vertical gradients of both oxygen and sulfide present within the band, both generated and sustained by the physiological and behavioral activities of the BBD microbial consortium members. The entire, vertically structured community migrates across susceptible coral colonies, completely degrading coral tissue and leaving behind bare coral skeleton. After 30 years of study, involving several teams and approaches, the identity of the pathogen, or determination of the involvement of a primary pathogen as opposed to a true pathogenic consortium, is unknown. The BBD/coral model presents an opportunity to investigate the intricacies of pathogenic microbial consortium development in a relatively simple system. The overall objective of the proposed research is to investigate the pathogenicity of BBD based on the structural, functional, and community organization of the consortium. The overall goals of this research are to: 1) dissect the BBD microbial community in terms of the functional (physiological, developmental, and self-sustaining) activities of the specific microorganisms involved; 2) determine if there is a requirement of a physiologically functional, spatially structured consortium for pathogenicity; and 3) assess the host (coral) response to the disease (BBD toxicity). These findings may lead to insight into the evolution and development of more evolved biofilm-associated microbial diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

 

Cystic Fibrosis Microbial Communities

Along with my collaborator, Dr. Kalai Mathee, we are using community profiling to query the microbial consortium associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) infections. Since the majority of microbes in nature remain unculturable in the lab, much of what we know about microbial diseases is based on what organisms can be grown in isolation and studied. In the case of CF patients, it is possible that many of the bacteria that infect the lungs are not culturable. Amplicon length heterogeneity and other methods (e.g., terminal restriction length fragment polymorphisms (TRFLP) can be used to profile the communities present in CF sputa using molecular markers (e.g., 16S rRNA genes and gyr B genes) and may give new insight as to the diversity of organisms that are present.

The new molecular and bioinformatics tools that are being developed are proving to be extremely useful in microbial ecology studies and will not only have great potential for ecological disease diagnostics but will enhance the field of microbial community ecology in general.

Collaborative research with USDA

For the past 3 years, my FIU colleagues and I have been collaborating with Dr. Jim Entry, ARS-USDA, Kimberly, ID, on microbial community profiling of agricultural soils under different management practices (link to Mills, Entry et al in CV pubs). For example, irrigation increases carbon (C) input to soils via increased litter and root production. Intensively managed crop or pastureland has potential for C gain through the use of improved grazing regimes, fertilization practices and irrigation management. Soil microbial diversity is important because it is often regarded as an index of soil health. Loss of biodiversity leads to loss of ecosystem resistance and resilience to anthropogenic as well as natural stresses. The application of the ALH technique as a monitoring tool for microbial ecology has been shown to enhance and extend the current understanding of the structural dynamics of microbial communities in their specific environments. Using such molecular tools can be applied to better monitor management practices for agricultural lands that sequester organic C, improve soil microbial diversity and enhance soil biological processes.

Teaching

I have designed, implemented and taught workshops over the last three years in microbial community analyses for FIU graduate students as well USDA scientists and other professionals in the field as continuing educational credits through FIU. I also team-teach Forensic Biology for the Forensic Science program at FIU and direct research and analyses for the Forensic DNA Profiling Facility associated with the International Forensic Research Institute of FIU.