Vinai C. Thomas, PhD
Associate Professor, UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Vinai C. Thomas, PhD, is an associate professor in the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. He is a bacterial geneticist with a strong commitment to understanding fundamental questions on how bacteria adapt to biological stress through metabolic and physiological changes.
He studies various bacterial pathogens, such as Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella enterica, and Staphylococcus aureus. His research group has made seminal contributions to understanding mechanisms that allow pathogens like S. aureus to maintain their fitness in stationary phase and why certain bacteria produce nitric oxide through an endogenous nitric oxide synthase, despite its toxicity. More recently, his lab has started to characterize the role of nitric oxide synthase in S. epidermidis. In carrying out these studies, the lab routinely perform genetic manipulations in both S. aureus and S. epidermidis, as well as employ advanced techniques such as flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and tandem mass spectrometry, to supplement our research workflow.
- BS: Microbiology, University of Pune, Maharashtra, 2000.
- MS: Microbiology, University of Pune, Maharashtra, 2002.
- MS, Biotechnoloogy, University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, 2004.
- PhD: Microbiology, Kansas State University in Manhattan, 2009.
Research projects at the Thomas laboratory focus on bacterial pathogen adaptations during stress and infection. Current projects aim to understand how Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis alter metabolism and energetics to optimize fitness during stress. Investigators in the Thomas laboratory routinely employ genetic, biochemical, and metabolomic approaches to dissect relevant questions. This research's long-term goal is to identify metabolic pathways or cellular targets of therapeutic importance that limit the pathogen's ability to adapt during infection.
- New Investigator Award, UNMC, 2019.
- Outstanding Graduate Student Educator Award, UNMC, 2017.
- American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2012.
- Alvin and Rosa Lee Sarachek Fellowship, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 2009.
- Society for Redox Biology and Medicine
- American Heart Association
- American Society for Microbiology
- American Association for the Advancement of Science