Additional Information
Dr. Megan Behrmann received her bachelors in biochemistry with honors from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, where she was active in science outreach and regularly involved in research. She moved to Waco, Texas, to earn her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Baylor University under Dr. Michael Trakselis studying DNA replication and repair in E. coli, linking protein mechanism to cellular function through a combination of biochemical and microbiological techniques. She optimized and developed many of the lab’s bacterial systems protocols, from in situ fluorescent visualization of DNA damage and protein activity, to quantification of strain fitness, mutagenesis, and viability. During her time at Baylor, she also worked to make research accessible to her community through a variety of methods, including co-leading a graduate student science communication organization, designing STEM in agriculture workshops for a local day camp, and hosting STEM activity days at the farmer’s market. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Anupama Khare, where she is working to understand mechanisms of gene duplication-amplification in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and the role it plays in antimicrobial resistance and adaptive evolution. She is interested in understanding DNA replication, damage, and repair processes, and how they contribute to microbial fitness, adaptation, and virulence.
Areas of expertise:
1) Biochemistry
2) Microbiology
3) DNA replication and repair
4) Gene and genome editing