The Heath-Heckman
Symbiosis Lab
Michigan State University
ABOUT ME
Elizabeth Heath-Heckman (she/her)
I am a microbiologist and invertebrate biologist specializing in the mechanisms underlying host-microbe interactions. After studying Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis as an undergraduate I spent my Ph.D. studying day/night cycles in the association between the Hawaiian bobtail squid and Vibrio fischeri, its luminescent bacterial symbiont. My first postdoc at UC Berkeley involved studying neurodevelopment in the leeches Helobdella austinensis and Hirudo verbana and my second let me train in genomic techniques at UCLA. I started my lab. at MSU in July of 2020 where we examine host-microbe interactions harnessing the Squid-Vibrio system.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Effects of Bacteria and Bacterial Products on Animal Development
2017-2020
University of California, Los Angeles
Postdoctoral Scholar, Advisor: Dr. David Jacobs
Mechanisms Influencing Symbiosis Maintenance
Influence of Bacterial Symbiont on Host Neurodevelopment and Neurological Function
2014-2017
University of California, Berkeley
Postdoctoral Fellow, Advisor: Dr. David Weisblat
2007-2014
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Ph.D. in Microbiology, Advisor: Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai
2003-2007
University of Chicago
B.A. in Biological Sciences, with Honors