Jennifer Boddicker, Ph.D.
Ph.D, University of Iowa, 2003 |
Lecturer Campus address: 3-572 BSB Mailing address: 51 Newton Rd. 3-572 Bowen Science Building Iowa City, IA 52242 Phone: 319-335-7790 Email: |
I began my position as an instructor in the Department of Microbiology at The University of Iowa in 2007. I currently teach within several courses, including Bacterial Genetics, Dental Microbiology, Nursing Microbiology, Principles of Infectious Disease, Bacterial Physiology, Pathogenic Bacteriology and the laboratory section for Bacterial Diversity, which is a new course offered this fall. I am interested in incorporating new teaching technologies and innovative teaching techniques, such as peer instruction, into my courses.
My principal research experience has been in the fields of bacterial pathogenesis, bacterial genetics, and public health microbiology.
In 1998, I received my BS in microbiology at The University of Georgia, where I studied Trypanosoma cruzi as an undergraduate. I came to graduate school for microbiology at The University of Iowa. I studied the regulation of Salmonella pathogenesis genes in Bradley Jones lab and earned my PhD in 2003.
I continued my studies of bacterial pathogenesis as a post-doctoral research fellow in Steve Clegg’s lab at The University of Iowa, where I performed a signature-tagged mutagenesis screen to identify genes necessary for biofilm growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae on plastics and human extracellular matrix. Biofilm growth of this pathogen on indwelling plastic devices such as catheters and endotracheal tubing is thought to be an important step leading to nosocomial infections. I was able to identify mutations in several genes that conferred a disadvantage for growth as a biofilm and, in some cases, affected pathogenesis within a mouse model.
After that, I worked as an Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Fellow at The University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory, where I helped to develop a new PCR based assay for the diagnosis of mumps infection and helped implement 16s rDNA sequencing in the bacterial reference laboratory. This fellowship gave me a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in clinical and public health microbiology which has given me a good perspective for teaching medical professional students.
On the personal side, besides my love for microbiology, I love to read and I love to bike. I don’t do either as much as I used to, because I also love spending time with my children, Ben and Samantha.