Principal Investigator
Assistant Research Scientist

Dr. Daniel Paredes-Sabja
Daniel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University. He is interested the fundamental mechanisms that drive persistence of enteropathogens in the gastrointestinal tract and how to develop therapeutics to combat persistence. Daniel earned his Ph.D. from Oregon State University, where he also did his postdoctoral work.

Dr. Marjorie Pizarro-Guajardo
Marjorie is a Research Scientist and is interested in unraveling how C. difficile forms different types of exosporium layers and how these contribute to disease. She is also spearheading vaccine-prototypes against C. difficile. Marjorie received her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Universidad Andrés Bello.
Graduate Students

Osiris K. López García
Osiris is a Genetics Ph.D. student. Her research focuses on the study of the interactions between the exosporium of Clostridioides difficile and the host. She received her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.

Javier Sanchez-Peralta
Is a Microbiology PhD student. He is studying how cysteine-rich proteins govern the assembly of the exosporium layer in C. difficile spores. He is developing TEM and Cryo-EM techniques to gain ultrastructural insight of the role of these proteins in spore surface assembly. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology at Texas A&M University.

Francisca Cid-Rojas
Is a Microbiology Ph.D student. She is currently studying the exosporium assembly and the interaction of its components within Clostridioides difficile’s spore. Before joining TAMU, Francisca received her Master degree in Biotechnology at the Universidad Andrés Bello.

Trey Hejtmancik
Is a Microbiology PhD student. His research focuses on understanding how changes in the microbiome and gastrointestinal tract throughout C. difficile infection and treatment contribute to recurrent C. difficile infection. He received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University.
Master Students

Lindsey Brehm
She is a Microbiology PhD student. Lindsey earned
a Bachelor of Science from the University of Findlay and a Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine degree from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. I am currently
assisting in the investigation of how C. difficile interacts with the host’s
GI tract and what factors play a
role in the recurrence of infection.

Brian Kostoch
Brian is a Microbiology PhD student, originally from Corpus Christi, TX where he received his Bachelors in Biology from TAMU-CC. As an undergraduate he worked on studying Vibrio spp. under the guidance of Dr. Gregory Buck. Working on developing a transposon library of C. difficile, and unlocking the genetics of T. sanguinis. Outside the lab he enjoys fishing, watching football, and camping.

Neda Khalilinasab
Neda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Production and Exploitation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and an Associate degree in Biological Products. Currently, she is a first-year Microbiology Master’s student in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on understanding proteins involved in the thickening of the exosporium layer in C. difficile spores.