Graduate Student, Biological Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
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Kurt McKean
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About
I am very interested in the evolution of pathogen virulence, particularly the persistence of "cooperative" virulence factors in microbial pathogens. I am currently working on a project comparing microbial virulence factors which are public goods and those which are not with respect to fitness of competing strains and overall virulence of infection in the model host Drosophila melanogaster. Eventually I would like to incorporate the relationship between cooperators and cheats into the framework of the D. melanogaster immune system and look at the effect of cooperation on the antagonistic co-evolution of both the flies and the pathogen P. aeruginosa.
I began my undergraduate career at Carnegie Mellon University and, following a stint at the Culinary Institute of America, completed my degree (Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences) at the University at Albany. I have been working with D. melanogaster as a model system in one way or another since 2004. I am currently a Ph. D. student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program at the University at Albany. In my spare time, I can typically be found in a kayak or behind a stove, exploring the world with a fork and knife or via the open water.
Contact Information
| Address: | 24 Coralberry Ct. |
