Damon Runyon Researchers

Many bacteria naturally colonize tumors, inspiring an emerging class of microbial therapeutics that can be modified to specifically deliver drugs into cancer tissue. In one promising drug delivery strategy, bacteria are engineered to efficiently transfer bespoke molecular cargo into human cells through bacterial membrane channels called secretion systems. Although many kinds of bacterial secretion systems exist, few have been studied well enough to be used in delivery platforms. Dr. Lodwick [National Mah Jongg League Fellow] plans to investigate the structure and function of a specific secretion system in a bacterium called Rickettsia parkeri. Understanding how and when its components assemble into a cargo delivery machine may aid the development of new bacteria-based cancer therapies. Dr. Lodwick received her PhD and MS from the University of Chicago, Chicago, and her BA from Wellesley College, Wellesley.