Ruth Isenberg
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest near Tacoma, Washington and graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2016. I earned my PhD in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023 in Dr. Mark Mandel’s lab where I studied cyclic diguanylate regulation of beneficial host colonization using the Vibrio fischeri-Hawaiian bobtail squid symbiosis as a model system. Now as a postdoc in Dr. Julia Willett's lab, my research focuses on investigating the mechanisms that underlie Enterococcus faecalis inhibition by Streptococcus mutans. My goal is to become a professor at a primarily undergraduate institution where I can continue teaching and mentoring undergrads in the classroom and the lab!
Selected Publications
1. Isenberg RY, Christensen DG, Visick KL, Mandel MJ. 2022. High levels of cyclic diguanylate interfere with beneficial bacterial colonization. mBio 13:e0167122.
2. Isenberg RY, Holschbach CS, Gao J, Mandel MJ. 2023. Functional analysis of cyclic diguanylate-modulating proteins in Vibrio fischeri. bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.24.550417.
3. Vander Griend JA, Isenberg RY, Kotla KR, Mandel MJ. 2023. Transcriptional pathways across colony biofilm models in the symbiont Vibrio fischeri. bioRxiv 2023.08.07.552283.
4. McCaughey CS, Trebino MA, McAtamney A, Isenberg RY, Mandel MJ, Yildiz FH, Sanchez LM (2023) A label-free approach for relative spatial quantitation of c-di-GMP in microbial biofilms. Submitted.
