Jeff recently completed his Ph.D. training at Creighton University in Omaha, NE and is beginning a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in biology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Throughout his training, Jeff has studied the enteric pathogen, Salmonella enterica, focusing on how it evades and subverts the host immune response. As a Master’s student, Jeff became interested in central metabolism and how these essential processes enable Salmonella pathogenesis. He continued his research during his Ph.D. training by characterizing a critical enzyme in the non-oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway that is involved in resisting the host innate immune response. As a postdoctoral fellow, Jeff is shifting to a new enteric pathogen, Helicobacter pylori, while maintaining focus on how this organism overcomes host immunity and causes disease.
