MSU MGI

🌱 Meet MGI grad student Leah Knorr from the Lebeis Lab! She studies how chemicals released by plant roots shape the microbial communities around them, especially under stressful conditions. Her research could help scientists find new ways to improve plant health.

MGI Student Spotlight: Meet Jade Le Bris of the Manning Lab! Jade studies Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a bacterium that can cause serious infections in newborns, including pneumonia and meningitis. Her research aims to improve maternal and newborn health.

1/2 Congrats to MGI researcher Ritam Sinha who was selected for ASM's Infection and Immunity Emerging Voices in Microbiology!

MGI Professor Dohun Pyeon was formally recognized as an MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor at the faculty investiture ceremony this week. The honor recognizes Dohun’s research, including his work on HPV and HPV-associated cancers. Congratulations, Dohun!

Read more here: tinyurl.com/yethnse9

🔬 Student Spotlight: Danielle Gregory Danielle is MGI graduate student working in the Manning / Dodd Lab who studies cephalosporin-resistant bacteria recovered from Michigan dairy cattle.

She’s working to understand which bacteria are more likely to be resistant and why, helping us better understand antibiotic resistance in agricultural environments.

It’s #InternationalMicroorganismDay! 🦠 At MGI, microorganisms are at the center of some very big research questions, from how pathogens survive inside their hosts to how they evade immune defenses and resist antibiotics. Meet a few of the Microbes of MGI ⬇️

🦠 Staphylococcus aureus Neal Hammer studies the relationship between metabolism, pathogenesis, and antibiotic resistance in S. aureus to help uncover new ways to treat infection.

It’s #InternationalMicroorganismDay! 🦠 At MGI, microorganisms are at the center of some very big research questions, from how pathogens survive inside their hosts to how they evade immune defenses and resist antibiotics. Meet a few of the Microbes of MGI ⬇️

🦠 Legionella Steph Shames studies how the innate immune system controls Legionella infection, work that could also help us understand how our bodies fight other bacterial pathogens.

New work from MGI University Distinguished Professor Robert Hausinger and Kelly Kim’s group in MSU’s Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology has revealed the first cryo-EM structures of full-length LarC. 🧵

Published in Science Advances, the study is also a great example of research enabled by MSU’s shared research resources. Thursday, the Cryo-EM Facility joins dozens of MSU research cores at Spartan CoreFest, where researchers can discover the tools and expertise available across campus.

New work from MGI University Distinguished Professor Robert Hausinger and Kelly Kim’s group in MSU’s Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology has revealed the first cryo-EM structures of full-length LarC. 🧵

1/4 🔬 Student Spotlight: Bryttan Adams Bryttan is a doctoral student in the Pyeon Lab studying head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, or HNSCC, the seventh most common cancer worldwide. Rates of head and neck cancers linked to human papillomavirus, or HPV, are increasing.

3/4 Her research aims to identify potential therapeutic strategies that target the mechanisms behind these changes, with the long-term goal of improving treatment options and outcomes for patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer.

1/4 🔬 Student Spotlight: Bryttan Adams Bryttan is a doctoral student in the Pyeon Lab studying head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, or HNSCC, the seventh most common cancer worldwide. Rates of head and neck cancers linked to human papillomavirus, or HPV, are increasing.

Student Spotlight: Meet MGI doctoral student Heather Murdoch. In Rob Abramovitch’s lab, Heather studies how Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, adjusts its growth depending on the carbon sources available to it during infection.

1/3 How do you teach graduate students to use complex analytical instrumentation? You let them use it. In MGI 991: Metals in Biology, students work hands-on with the advanced elemental analysis and imaging tools in MSU’s QBEAM facility. 🧵

2/3 Students begin by measuring elements in water samples, then progress to techniques that can map the distribution of elements within biological tissues. Even better: they’re encouraged to bring samples and research questions from their own labs.

MGI graduate student Maria Guzman took her research to #ASMMicrobe 2026 in Washington, D.C., this summer! 🦠 Maria shared her work with the microbiology community through both a talk and a poster at the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting.

Congratulations to MGI DO/PhD student Mehdi Abed, who welcomed the MSU COM Class of 2030 at this week’s White Coat Ceremony! As Student Association President, Mehdi shared a message of collaboration, humility and community. Way to represent MGI, Mehdi! 💚