The Microbial Systems Initiative (MSI) is a vibrant cross-campus community of microbial sciences researchers who address problems in health, agriculture, energy, and other sectors. The Microbial Early-career Researchers Association (MicroERA) organizes professional development and networking opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

Researchers make new insights into bacterial cell cycle

Three scientists in the Mera Lab, Stephanie Puentes-Rodriguez, Paola Mera, and Inoka Menikpurage, stand together smiling for the camera. They are in the doorway leading from one lab space to additional lab space. They are all smiling.
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Bacteriology, the Mera Lab focused on how the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus coordinates the replication and separation of the chromosome simultaneously. The researchers found that the regulators of those two crucial events communicate with each other...

Meet MCB: Yumi Iwadate, PhD

Yumi Iwadate smiles with a green background
Dr. Yumi Iwadate is a postdoctoral fellow in the Slauch Lab in the Department of Microbiology and serves as one of two postdoctoral advisors for the Microbial Early-Career Researchers Association (MicroERA). She is featured in this month’s Microbial Systems Initiative researcher...

Welcome to Professor Paola Mera

Paola Mera smiles for headshot outside with a background of trees.
Professor Mera was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Mera is an assistant professor of microbiology, and is also an affiliate of the Microbial Systems Initiative.

Welcome to Professor Asma Hatoum

Asma Hatoum
Professor Hatoum was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Hatoum is an assistant professor of microbiology and is part of the Microbial Systems Initiative.

The Next Gold Rush: Mining Microbial Genomes

Graphics depicting floating microbes in blue shades.
“Microbes are king of the world. If human beings ceased to exist, microbes wouldn’t even notice [except those in the human microbiome], but if microbes ceased to exist today, human beings would cease to exist tomorrow.”