Melissa Kendall, PhD
Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Email: melissakendall@virginia.edu
I grew up outside of Detroit Michigan, and received my undergraduate degree in French from Michigan State University in 1995. After college, I entered the Environmental Sciences and Resources: Biology program at Portland State University, where I did my dissertation work in Dr. David Boone’s lab. This research explored the physiology and ecology of microbes living in permanently cold, anoxic marine sediments and primarily focused on methanogens, the methane-producing Archaea, and their syntrophic interactions. After receiving my Ph.D. in 2006, I joined Dr. Vanessa Sperandio’s lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for post-doctoral training. During my fellowship training, I became interested in how EHEC integrates environmental signals to recognize a host environment and modulate expression of genes important for pathogenesis, and this interest remains the driving force behind the research in my lab. I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Virginia.