Maria Gainey

Biography

I am a North Carolina native, and received my bachelors degree from Appalachian State University. I went on to earn my Ph.D. from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Washington University Medical Center.

Education

• Ph D, Wake Forest University, Microbiology/Immunology
• BS, Appalachian State University, Bachelor of Science Biology/Chemistry

Teaching Interests

I enjoy teaching and designing <u>C</u>ourse-<u>B</u>ased <u>U</u>ndergraduate <u>R</u>esearch <u>E</u>xerience<u>s </u>(CUREs). These CURE courses allow me to provide authentic research and training experiences to all students who take my CURE courses.

Research Interests

My research focuses on proteins that are expressed by bacteriophages that regulate gene transcription and defense against other viruses. My laboratory is also interested in bacteriophage discovery and genomics. Techniques used in my laboratory include <i>in vitro</i>/<i>in vivo</i> protein expression, cell culture, genetic engineering, next-generation sequencing, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics.