Lisa Rucks, PhD
Professor, UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Co-Chair, UNMC Immunology, Pathology & Infectious Disease Graduate Program
Lisa Rucks, PhD, is a professor in the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. She also serves as faculty in the UNMC Immunology, Pathology & Infectious Disease Graduate Program.
Dr. Rucks is one of five principal investigators within the Obligate Intracellular Pathogen Research Group at UNMC. She is developing new projects towards understanding how the chlamydial inclusion membrane is organized, and asking if the inclusion membrane is as dynamic as other eukaryotic subcellular organelles.
She joined UNMC in 2017 after serving as a tenured faculty member at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
As a graduate student, Dr. Rucks examined the role of the host cell in the type III translocation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoenzyme S. For her post-doctoral fellowship, she developed a polarized cell model to study Golgi-derived lipid trafficking to inclusions formed by Chlamydia trachomatis. From these initial studies, she became interested in whether specific eukaryotic N-ethylmaleimide sensitive attachment protein receptor proteins, which are proteins that assist fusion between two opposing membranes, positively contribute to inclusion expansion and chlamydial growth and development.
- BS: College of Charleston, SC, cum laude,1999.
- PhD: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, West Virginia University at Morgantown, 2005.
- Postdoctoral Intramural Research Training Award: Laboratory of Intracellular Parasites, NIH, NIAID, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, MT, 2006-10.
- Understanding how chlamydial infection globally alters eukaryotic trafficking pathways/machinery
- Understanding how chlamydial and host proteins influence inclusion growth and stability
- Understanding Inc organization and turnover at the chlamydial inclusion membrane Incs are chlamydial type III effectors that are temporally expressed during chlamydial development and modify the inclusion membrane. They are likely the main mediators of inclusion membrane organization and chlamydial-host interactions
- Understanding how the chlamydial inclusion remains stable during times of nutrient stress.
- Standing member, Bacteria Host Interactions study section of NIH CSR, 2024-28.
- Certified Facilitator, Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research, 2023.
- Ad hoc member, seven NIH Center of Scientific Review study sections.
- American Society of Microbiology.
- Chlamydial Basic Research Society. Elected as councilor.
- Missouri Valley Regional Branch of the American Society of Microbiology.Current president with term ending in 2025.