Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Anna Lidofsky

Anna Lidofsky is a Burlington, Vermont native who graduated from the University of Vermont in 2014 with a degree in Microbiology. During her time at UVM she was a patient attendant at Fletcher Allen Health Care, and a research intern at the Los Angeles Department of Health. As well as being a Fulbright Scholar Finalist, Anna received the Distinguished Undergraduate Research Award from UVM for her research, “Explaining Hospital Length of Stay of Patients Admitted with Seasonal Influenza Infection”. After graduation, she served as a predoctoral research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital where she studied HIV/HCV and the progression of liver fibrosis. She currently is a third year medical student at The Robert Larner College of Medicine at UVM. Anna is “inspired by innovation in healthcare delivery” and is interested in providing healthcare to those in developing countries. 

Tom Addison

Tom is a graduate of the MMG program from 2016. He has been a Lab Technician at Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology for over two years. Previously, he began as an undergraduate intern in the Plant Biology Department at UVM. Along with working in Cambridge, Tom remains post-grad employed for UVM in projects involving common molecular biology techniques. Projects including plant based research in reverse genetics using a diverse set of techniques including PCR, DNA extractions, bacterial transformation, gateway, and traditional cloning reactions. He is experienced in bench protocols required of the research while maintaining a highly organized lab environment. Tom works as part of a larger research team in the lab of Dr. Mary Tierney focused in cell wall structure, signaling pathways, and control of gene expression, from volunteer to paid researcher working independently on specific projects related to the characterization of protein localization patterns in vivo.

Katherine Amidon

MMG Alumna Katherine Amidon has propelled a love for science and research into graduate school success at Vanderbilt University.

After graduating from UVM in 2017 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Microbiology and Biochemistry, Katherine undertook a year of rotations before joining Brandt Eichman's lab at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on the structure and biochemical mechanism of SRAP, a highly conserved protein domain that forms stable crosslinks to abasic sites in DNA, and its role in DNA repair. As a result of her hard work, she recently published a co-first author paper in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, and her work was highlighted in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Reporter. She attributes much of her current success to the excellent education she received in the Microbiology program.

To read more about her experiences with MMG, click here.

Matthew Owens

Matthew is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Medical Laboratory Science at UVM and is expected to complete his course of studies by 2020. Today, he works as a recombinant DNA Technology Teaching Assistant, responsible for the instruction and academic success of thirty students. He aids his professors by supplementing instruction for lectures and grading course work.