Background
Dr. Tiffany Zarrella is a Professor of Biology at Georgetown University, whose research focuses on the interactions between co-infecting bacterial pathogens and how this influences antibiotic resistance and bacterial behaviors. She holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Syracuse University and a PhD in Immunology and Microbial Disease from Albany Medical College.
Involvement in Research
Dr. Zarrella researches how bacteria communicate or relay messages to each other based on their environment and how to disrupt persistent bacterial infections. Her lab utilizes the bacteria’s unique sensing capabilities to simulate its responses to fluctuations in the level of nutrients, which Dr. Zarrella and her team analyze. They focus on how bacteria behave in an infection, and how they can change the behavior in this environment to prevent infection and reduce selective pressure to survive. An overarching goal of her lab is to better understand bacterial communication and how to disrupt persistent bacterial infections.
Inspiration
Through her involvement in several upper level lab courses at Syracuse University, Dr. Zarrella became interested in molecular biology. After graduation, she worked as a research technician and then joined the PhD program at Albany Medical College. With interests in molecular biology, biochemistry, and microbiology, Dr. Zarrella eventually discovered her passion for bacteriology. She studied how bacteria sense and respond to their environments and survive stressful situations.
Reflection
Dr. Zarrella believes that a unique part of research is starting on one question, finding something else that is interesting, then pivoting the project to answer that question. She describes research as a process of “following the science” and exploring what the science is suggesting even when it is not the original research question. As research continues, more questions arise than there are answers, allowing scientific discovery to continue to drive forward.
Advice for Students
Dr. Zarrella emphasizes the abundance of research opportunities available at Georgetown, and the importance of emailing after browsing lab websites to find descriptions of research that sound intriguing and relevant. For the labs you’re interested in, explain why it is exciting to you and what about their papers intrigues you. She describes that interest is the most critical factor in appealing to a PI, because unlike technical skills, motivation and interest cannot be taught.