Welcome!

About Me

My name is Doug. I’m currently a doctoral candidate within the Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology at Michigan State University. I was initially trained as a microbiologist but have actively developed my skills in statistics and large data analysis, specifically that of metabolome and microbiome analysis. My current research within the lab of Dr. Robert Quinn investigates the mechanisms and physiological consequences of bile acid metabolism by our gut microbiome. More specifically, I’m interested in microbial bile acid conjugation (first described by Quinn et al. in 2020), originally thought to only be performed by the liver.

Current Work and Research

I use a mix of experiments at the benchtop and computational analysis to further understand the mechanisms behind bile acid conjugation by our gut microbes. Bile acids are key molecules in nutrient absorption and and cell signalling, although they have also been implicated in gut dysbiosis and cancer. Microbially modified bile acids, such as deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid, are noteably carcinogenic (check out the review I published in 2021 for more information). However, relatively little is known about microbially conjugated bile acids. My work seeks to uncover how microbes are able to perform this novel bile acid transformation and what the consequences are to both the host and their resident microbiome.

My Background

I received my B.S. from The Ohio State University in Microbiology where I graduated with research distinction in Microbiology under the advisement of Dr. Paul Stoodley. My undergraduate thesis delved into understanding the role of synovial fluid components in Staphylococcus aureus aggregation in the context of periprosthetic joint infection. During my time at Ohio State, I also studied maxillofacial burn wound healing in an effort to understand the in vitro processes on going following severe burn injury with Dr. Sashwati Roy and Dr. Nandini Ghosh.

My Scientific Communities

My research touches on a diverse, but related, set of scientific communities. I am actively involved in the fields of microbial pathogenesis, microbial ecology, and molecular biology in addition to mass spectrometry and protein biochemistry. Within these domains, I rely heavily on computational methods to investigate the significance of, and further contextualize, my work.