DUKE MYCOLOGY RESEARCH UNIT
Faculty and Research

Heitman Lab Members

Samantha Bowen Rotating Graduate Student 320 CARL Building Box 3546 DUMC Durham, N.C. 27710   Phone: 919.684.3036 Fax: 919.684.5458 Email: samantha.bowen@duke.edu

While in the Heitman lab, I was a first-year graduate student in the Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM) program. I received a B.S. in Biology from Georgetown University, where I spent four years studying the cytoskeleton of the intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia. As a rotation student in the Heitman lab, I am explored the role that mating pheromones play in mediating virulence in C. neoformans infections. Specifically, I was looking to see if pheromones are involved in directing alpha-biased serotype A CNS infections in vivo, despite equivalent alpha and a virulence in vitro.