Kaushic Lab
Research to Improve Women's Reproductive Health
Amanda Bakke MSc Candidate
Amanda graduated from the University of Guelph in 2019 where she majored in Biochemistry. During her undergraduate research project she worked with Dr. Rod Merrill, looking at plant tinctures as antimicrobials for the treatment of Streptomyces scabies, a pathogenic bacteria and causative agent of common scab disease in tuberous crops. Amanda joined the Kaushic lab in 2020 under the Medical Sciences Graduate Program. Using her Microbiology background, Amanda’s project will investigate biofilm formation among bacteria commonly associated with Bacterial Vaginosis, an infection which increases susceptibility to HIV in the female reproductive tract.
In her free time Amanda enjoys reading, music and travel.
Nuzhat Rahman, MSc Candidate
Nuzhat joined the Kaushic lab in Fall 2020 under the Medical Sciences graduate program and is currently a second-year master’s student. Her project is focused on creating human vaginal microbiota associated mouse models that can be used to assess the effect of the vaginal microbiota composition on outcomes associated with viral sexually transmitted infections. Currently, she is looking at the effect of eubiotic and dysbiotic vaginal microbiota on HSV-2 infection and working on determining the mechanism of how the vaginal microbiota affects HSV-2 infection.
Nuzhat graduated from the University of Alberta in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science with Specialization in Immunology and Infection. During her degree, she completed an undergraduate project in Dr. David Evans' lab looking at the role of the H3L protein in poxvirus plaque size and infectivity.
In her free time, Nuzhat enjoys trying new recipes, reading, and travelling.
