Medical Microbiology

Dr. David O’Keefe received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCSD, where he used the powerful genetic tools available in Drosophila (the fruit fly) to study mechanisms of brain development. Following postdoctoral studies at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, he began his career as a science writer, and spent 10 years at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, as the Director of Research Development (i.e., a grant writer). He currently works as the Vice President of Research Development at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) in La Jolla, CA. SBP scientists include world leaders in the molecular genetics of behavior, physiology, and disease, and Dr. O’Keefe helps to convey their scientific discoveries and aspirations in a compelling fashion. He has recently published in the fields of regenerative medicine and gene therapy, and frequently teaches workshops on scientific communication and grant writing.

Jesse Wilson is a microbial ecologist and environmental scientist who has researched microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems all over the world. His research involves assessing how changes in the microbial community and microbial functioning affects and is affected by changes in the environment, with a focus on positive feedback loops and microbial responses to phytoplankton blooms. He is particularly well versed in statistical and machine learning techniques that are capable of dealing with the high dimensional data that is obtained when looking at complex microbial communities.

Jesse received his B.S. in Environmental Science from CSU Channel Islands (2007) and his Ph.D. in Environmental Systems from UC Merced (2017). While at UCM, Jesse taught and created content for a wide range of natural science courses. He was also able to research the efficacy of different teaching strategies and presented a case study from this work at multiple conferences.

Jesse left Merced for San Diego in 2018 to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. At SIO, Jesse tracked drivers of change in the microbial community off the Scripps Pier by combining environmental time-series sampling with microbiology and bioinformatics. As much as he loved working at SIO, Jesse missed teaching and was ecstatic to start teaching with UCSD Extension. 

Dr. Lisa Zeigler (Allen) is an Assistant Research Scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (UCSD) and Assistant Professor in the Microbial and Environmental Genomics Group at the J. Craig Venter Institute. Dr. Zeigler Allen received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Washington State University and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD). She has extensive experience in the area of viral genomics, specifically using environmental metagenomic and metatranscriptomic tools to investigate food web interactions in the ocean. In addition, Dr. Zeigler Allen has developed curricula as part of local outreach for K-12 students related to the oceans, their microbiome, and connections to human-influenced perturbations to over 50,000 student contacts over the last four years.

Jesse Wilson is a microbial ecologist and environmental scientist who has researched microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems all over the world. His research involves assessing how changes in the microbial community and microbial functioning affects and is affected by changes in the environment, with a focus on positive feedback loops and microbial responses to phytoplankton blooms. He is particularly well versed in statistical and machine learning techniques that are capable of dealing with the high dimensional data that is obtained when looking at complex microbial communities.

Jesse received his B.S. in Environmental Science from CSU Channel Islands (2007) and his Ph.D. in Environmental Systems from UC Merced (2017). While at UCM, Jesse taught and created content for a wide range of natural science courses. He was also able to research the efficacy of different teaching strategies and presented a case study from this work at multiple conferences.

Jesse left Merced for San Diego in 2018 to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. At SIO, Jesse tracked drivers of change in the microbial community off the Scripps Pier by combining environmental time-series sampling with microbiology and bioinformatics. As much as he loved working at SIO, Jesse missed teaching and was ecstatic to start teaching with UCSD Extension. 

Ivette Ariela Nuñez received her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia, Athens where she studied avian influenza virus H5N1 and vaccine design. Following her defense, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and at Vanderbilt University performing research on SARS-CoV-2 and influenza B virus. She currently works as a Molecular Virologist at the NIH/NIAID Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick (IRF-Frederick) in Frederick, MD, USA. Here she studies high consequence pathogens such as Ebola virus and SARS-CoV-2 in order to understand, treat and prevent novel emerging viruses.

Jesse Wilson is a microbial ecologist and environmental scientist who has researched microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems all over the world. His research involves assessing how changes in the microbial community and microbial functioning affects and is affected by changes in the environment, with a focus on positive feedback loops and microbial responses to phytoplankton blooms. He is particularly well versed in statistical and machine learning techniques that are capable of dealing with the high dimensional data that is obtained when looking at complex microbial communities.

Jesse received his B.S. in Environmental Science from CSU Channel Islands (2007) and his Ph.D. in Environmental Systems from UC Merced (2017). While at UCM, Jesse taught and created content for a wide range of natural science courses. He was also able to research the efficacy of different teaching strategies and presented a case study from this work at multiple conferences.

Jesse left Merced for San Diego in 2018 to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. At SIO, Jesse tracked drivers of change in the microbial community off the Scripps Pier by combining environmental time-series sampling with microbiology and bioinformatics. As much as he loved working at SIO, Jesse missed teaching and was ecstatic to start teaching with UCSD Extension.