Sujata Chaudhari, PhD
Assistant Professor, UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Sujata Chaudhari, PhD, is an assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. The focus of her laboratory is on the biology of arthropod vectors and their pathogens with the aim of identifying targets for controlling pathogen acquisition and transmission.
The lab's research aims to uncover the significance of various physiological processes in arthropod vectors, including molting, metamorphosis, embryogenesis, and metabolism, and their effect on the acquisition and transmission of bacterial pathogens. In particular, Dr. Chaudhari is interested in studying the I. scapularis tick, which transmits the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi. Despite extensive study using insect model systems like Drosophila melanogaster and Tribolium castaneum, the impact of these processes on tick development remains poorly understood.
Ticks differ physiologically from insects, yet the relationship between tick physiology and pathogen survival and transmission to mammalian hosts has not been fully explored. The work of the Chaudhari lab aims to shed light on the role of tick vector physiology in the targeting of pathogens.
- BSc: Microbiology, University of Pune, Maharashtra, India, 2002.
- MSc: Microbiology, University of Pune, Maharashtra, India. 2004.
- PhD, Biochemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 2011.
- Postdoctoral research training, UNMC, 2012-16.
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Biochemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 2011-12.
Vector biology, bacterial pathogenesis, insect physiology and metabolism.
- Biochemistry Graduate Research Award, Department of Biochemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., 2011.
- Research apprentiship, Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tubingen, Germany, 2011.
- Terry C. Johnson Center for Cancer Research, Graduate Travel Award, 2011.
- Entomological Society of America annual meeting in San Diego, California, IPMIS: Toxicology and Molecular Biology, first prize for the best research presentation, 2010.
- Kansas State University Graduate Student Council, Travel Award, 2010.
- Hageman Distinguished Lectureship Graduate, Travel Award, 2010.
- Terry C. Johnson Center for Cancer Research, Graduate Travel Award, 2009.
- Kansas State University Graduate Student Council, Travel Award, 2009.
- Hedgcoth Graduate Scholarship, Travel Award, 2009.
- Hedgcoth Graduate Scholarship, Travel Award, 2008.
- Research Fellowship, National Chemical Laboratory, University of Pune, India, 2003.
- University of Pune Merit Scholarship, 2002.
- American Society for Entomology
- American Society for Microbiology