2024
October 2024
Our undergraduate student Nathaniel Rodney presented his work on riboswitch biosensor engineering at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Student Conference and was awarded a 3rd place poster award. Congrats, Nathaniel!
Congratulations to Patricia Hare for being awarded the CT Woman of Innovation award in the Collegian Innovation & Leadership category at the 19th Annual CT Technology Council Women of Innovation awards ceremony! Read more about UConn's honorees here.
Dr. Nisha Mahely travels to Omaha, NE to present her work on Staphylococcus aureus persisters at the 9th International Conference on Gram-Positive Pathogens!
September 2024
Our postdoc, Dr. Nisha Mahey, gave a Speak4Science talk and presented her work at the annual Postdoc Research Day!
Trish Hare presented her work at the International Biennial Pseudomonas Conference.
August 2024
Jonathan Batchelder presented his work and Trish Hare gave her Lepow Award lecture at the 41st annual Graduate Student Research Day!
July 2024
Patricia Hare and Travis LaGree presented their work at meetings this month. Travis presented his work at the Clinical and Scientific Advances in Urinary Tract Infections (CSAUTI) meeting and Trish gave a talk at the GRC on Microbial Stress Response.
Our summer student Nathaniel Rodney presented his work on building biosensors at the Summer Research Fellowship Program poster symposium. Thanks to UConn Health's Health Care Opportunity Programs (HCOP) for supporting his work!
June 2024
Jonathan Batchelder and Angela Power presented their work at conferences this month. Jonathan gave talks on his Staphylococcus aureus metabolism and antibiotic susceptibility project at the Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on Drug Resistance in Rhode Island. Angie traveled to Denmark and presented her work on S. aureus biofilms and antibiotic tolerance at the Eurobiofilms 2024 meeting.
We welcome our summer researcher Nathaniel Rodney and MD-PhD rotation student Ariana Fantasia-Davis to our lab!
May 2024
We presented our work at the Molecular Biology & Biophysics departmental retreat at Hill-Stead Museum. Angela Power received a first prize for her poster presentation. Go Angie!
The Mok Lab receives funding from the NIH to support our work on the impact of infection site metabolites on the antibiotic persistence of gram-negative pathogens!
Congratulations to Dr. Brandon Byrd, our lab's first doctoral student, on receiving his MD-Ph.D.! Brandon, best of luck on your OBGYN residency!
Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Nisha Mahey, joins our lab. Welcome Nisha!
March 2024
Congratulations to Trish Hare for winning the 3rd Annual MBB SciArt Contest! Check out Trish's photo-tryptych entitled "eDNA Zoo." Can you spot the creatures in the "zoo?" Thanks to Dr. Irina Bezsonova for organizing this annual contest.
Our postbac, Jay González, presented her work on Pseudomonas aeruginosa antibiotic susceptibility at the Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium at UMass Amherst!
2023
August 2023
Members of the Mok Lab had a great time at UConn Health's 40th annual Graduate Student Research Day! Patricia Hare won the Lepow Award for outstanding fourth-year student, Angela Power won the Biomedical Science Service Award in Mentorship, and Travis LaGree represented our Area of Concentration in the student talks (and also won a raffle). Jonathan Batchelder, Trish, and Angie also presented their work at the event. Looking forward to the next GSRD!
Congratulations to Ph.D. candidate Travis LaGree for being awarded an NIH F31 grant from NIDDK to support his doctoral research! Go Travis!
DMD-Ph.D. candidate Patricia Hare travels to Madison, Wisconsin for the 2023 Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Meeting, where she presented her work on P. aeruginosa persistence.
July 2023
DMD-Ph.D. candidate Patricia Hare was awarded an NIH F30 grant from NIDCR to support her research and training. Go Trish!
Jonathan traveled to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for the Essentials of Staphylococcal Genetics & Metabolism Workshop and learned a tonne!
As we bid goodbye to our postbac, Ryan Quelle, who will be heading off to dental school at Tufts University, we welcome two new(ish) faces. Andrew Taylor, who was with us when he was in high school, returns as a summer undergraduate researcher. Juliet González also joins us as a post-baccalaureate researcher. Good luck Ryan and welcome (back) Andrew and Juliet!
May-June 2023
Members of our lab have been traveling to conferences across the country! Travis Lagree presented his work at AIChE Synthetic Biology Engineering Evolution Design (SEED) meeting in Los Angeles in May, Angie DeMarco gave a flash talk at ASM Microbe in Houston, and Wendy presented her lab's work at the Bacterial Cell Biology and Development GRC.
April 2023
Congratulations to our undergraduate student, Stephanie Schofield, for being awarded a Fulbright Study/Research Grant! Steph will be heading to Heidelberg, Germany this Fall to work toward developing innovative models for a neurodevelopmental disorder.
March 2023
Jonathan and Ryan present their work at the Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium at UMass Amherst!
2022
July 2022
DMD-Ph.D. student Patricia Hare was selected to give a talk on "Leveraging Probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 to Hinder Levofloxacin Persister Resuscitation" at the Gordon Research Seminar on Microbial Stress Response and presents her work at the GRC! Go Trish!
Jonathan Batchelder officially joins our lab as a Ph.D. student!
Ryan Quelle joins our lab as a post-baccalaureate researcher. Welcome Ryan!
June 2022
Wendy gives a talk entitled "Leveraging Bacterial Vulnerabilities to Bolster the Efficacy of Topoisomerase Inhibitors" at the Gordon Research Conference on Drug Resistance.
Trish represented the UConn Dental School and participated in the Oral Health Sciences Graduate Programs in a Future and Diverse Workforce Symposium at the University of Michigan!
Wendy gives a talk on bolstering the efficacy of topoisomerase inhibitors against antibiotic tolerant bacteria at the 50th Annual American Society for Chemistry Middle Atlantic Region Meeting (ACS-MARM) at The College of New Jersey!
May 2022
First year Ph.D. student Jonathan Batchelder joins our lab for his rotation. Welcome Jonathan!
Undergraduate student Stephanie Schofield receives a UConn Undergraduate Summer Research Fund (SURF) Award for her summer project. Congratulations Steph!
March 2022
Brandon successfully defended his thesis as his labmates along with other friends and family cheered him on. Congratulations Dr. Byrd!
Undergraduate student Steph Schofield represents UConn and presents her research at the inaugural BIG EAST Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium at Madison Square Garden! Go Steph and Go Huskies!
Angie, Travis and Steph present their work at the Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium at UMass Amherst!
February 2022
The Mok Lab virtually visited the Healthcare Occupations and Professionals in Education (HOPE) Club at South Windsor High and spoke with the students about our research and careers. Thanks Tracy and Vineet for the invitation!
2021
October 2021
Undergraduate student Stephanie Schofield presents her summer project at UConn's Fall Frontiers Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition!
The Mok Lab receives the NIH Director's New Innovator Award for our research on Mapping Microbial Interactions that Modulate Antibiotic Persistence! Read more about it here and here.
July 2021
Our lab welcomes four rising seniors from Farmington High for their two-week internship through MBB's Cutting Edge program. Led by their fearless leader, Brandon Byrd, the team learned fundamental microbiology and microbial genetic techniques while finding out what's on their hands and phones!
June 2021
A few of us gave talks this month: Angie delivered a talk on her rotation work with Dr. Peter Setlow at the New York Bacillus Interest Group (NYBIG) meeting; Wendy delivered a plenary talk in the Cytometry in Antimicrobial Resistance session at the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry meeting; and Brandon presented his work on Delafloxacin persisters at the Boston Bacterial Meeting (BBM).
June 2021
Dental students Mishil Nana and Ryan Higgins join us for their summer projects. Welcome Mishil and Ryan!
May 2021
UConn undergrad Stephanie Schofield joins our lab as a Health Research Program researcher (https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/hrp/). Welcome Steph!
May 2021
Travis LaGree and Angie DeMarco officially join our lab for their Ph.D. studies!
May 2021
After two years in our lab, undergrad Hanna Englander successfully completes her honours thesis and graduates from UConn. Congrats Hanna! We wish you the best of luck as you prepare for your postbac adventures at the NIH later this summer.
April 2021
Undergrad Hanna Englander presents an Early Career Lightning Talk on her thesis project at this year's American Society for Microbiology (ASM) DC Branch Spring Meeting!
January 2021
Members of the Mok Lab participated in the CT Science Center's Virtual STEM Career Showcase for middle and high school students in the area. Thanks to the grad students from UConn Health's Young Explorers in Science (YES!) program for coordinating this event. Check out this video that students in our lab has put together. Many thanks to all of our lab's participants, especially our directors/ producers Trish and Brandon.
January 2021
Angela ("Angie") DeMarco starts her Ph.D. rotation in our lab, and DMD-Ph.D. student Patricia ("Trish") Hare officially starts her doctoral studies with us. Welcome Angie and Trish!
2020
November 2020
Wendy gives a talk at the NIH Lambda Lunch and in UConn's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology seminar series.
September 2020
Postdoc Maria Rocha receives a third place prize at the UConn Health/Jax Postdoc Research Day Speak4Science event! Congrats Maria!
September 2020
Travis LaGree joins our lab as a Ph.D. program rotation student. Welcome Travis!
August 2020
Isabella Gregor joins our lab as a research student. Welcome Isabella!
July 2020
The Mok Lab receives a Child Health Research Grant from the Charles H. Hood Foundation!
June 2020
DMD-Ph.D. student Patricia Hare joins our lab for her rotation. Welcome Trish!
April 2020
Undergraduate researcher Hanna Englander receives a UConn Undergraduate Summer Research Fund (SURF) Award for her summer project. Check out her interview on UConn Today. Congratulations Hanna!
February 2020
UConn Microbiome Research Seed Grants funds our collaborative project with the Wright Lab @ UConn's School of Pharmacy!
January 2020
The Mok Lab goes to the Pioneer Valley!
Our lab participated in the annual Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium. Maria, Brandon, Blesing, and Hanna presented their posters at the event, and Wendy gave a talk. We were delighted to meet fellow microbiology researchers in the area and learn about all of the exciting research going on in the region. Thanks to the students at UMass Amherst for organizing this incredible meeting!
2019
November 2019
Brandon officially joins our lab!
November 2019
Wendy gives a talk titled "Deciphering the survival strategies of bacterial persisters" in UConn's Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science's seminar series.
August 2019
Brandon Byrd joins our lab as a rotation student. Welcome Brandon!
June 2019
Alyssa Matz joins our lab as a summer rotation student. Welcome Alyssa!
May 2019
Blesing Zenick (a recent UConn graduate) and Hanna Englander (a UConn rising junior) join the lab. Welcome Blesing and Hanna!
April 2019
Dr. Maria Rocha Granados joins the lab. Welcome Maria!
January 2019
The Mok Lab is officially in operation. New members are welcome.