Keynote Speaker

 

 Dr. Lamason earned her PhD from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2011, her BS in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Millersville University in 2002, and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at MIT.

The Lamason lab studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms used by intracellular bacterial pathogens to hijack host cells. They combine genetic screening approaches with in-depth cellular, molecular, and biochemical techniques to understand how diverse bacterial pathogens such as Listeria and Rickettsia disseminate through host tissues using a process called cell-to-cell spread. Ultimately, their goal is to elucidate the mechanisms controlling these dynamic and intricate host-pathogen interactions in order to gain fundamental insights into pathogenesis and host cell biology.