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Undergraduate Program

UW Microbiology

Research Opportunities

Faculty Accepting 499 Students

Faculty Member Research Topics
Roger E. Bumgarner
Associate Professor, Microbiology
Bacterial Comparative Genomics
Sharon Doty
Adjunct Professor, Microbiology
Ferric C. Fang
Professor, Microbiology
Salmonella-Host Interactions
Deborah Fuller
Professor, Microbiology
Molecular Virology, Vaccine, Transdermal Drug Delivery, HIV, Influenza, Biotechnology, SARS-CoV2
Denise A. Galloway
Professor, Microbiology
HPV, Polyomaviruses
E. Peter Greenberg
Professor, Microbiology
Sociomicrobiology, Quorum Sensing, Biofilm, Regulation of Virulence Genes
Caroline (Carrie) Harwood
Gerald and Lyn Grinstein Professor of Microbiology, Microbiology
Metabolic Networks, Bacterial Signaling, Bioenergy Production
Lucas Hoffman
Adjunct Professor, Microbiology
Respiratory Microbiology, Respiratory, Fecal Microbiomes, Interspecies Interactions, Bacterial Adaptation During Chronic Infection
Kevin J. Hybiske
Adjunct Associate Professor, Microbiology
Host-Pathogen Interactions, Chlamydia, Malaria
Tristan Jordan
Assistant Professor, Microbiology
Host-virus, Innate Immunity, Antiviral, Evolution, DNA Virus Mechanisms of Evading Host Defenses, Amoeba, Virus Discovery
Mary E. Lidstrom
Professor Emeritus, Microbiology
Methylotrophic Bacteria, Metabolic Engineering
Samuel I. Miller
Professor, Microbiology
Salmonella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Microbiota-E.Coli
Patrick Mitchell
Assistant Professor, Microbiology
Immunity, Inflammasome, Host-pathogen, Pathogenesis
Joseph D. Mougous
Professor, Microbiology
Protein Secretion, Microbiome, Pathogens, Toxins
Sean C. Murphy
Adjunct Associate Professor, Microbiology
Parasitology, Malaria Vaccines, Malaria Diagnostics, Clinical Trials, Vaccine
Megan O’Connor
Research Assistant Professor, Microbiology
HIV, SARS-CoV2, Zika virus, Co-Infections, Pathogenesis, Immunology, Microbiome, Vaccine
Matthew R. Parsek
Professor, Microbiology
Microbial Communities, Biofilms, Quorum Sensing
Nina Salama
Professor, Microbiology
Helicobacter Pylori Pathogenesis
Jason G. Smith
Associate Professor, Microbiology
Adenovirus, HPV, Rotavirus, Defensins, Enteroids, Paneth Cells, Parvovirus
Beth A. Traxler
Professor, Microbiology
Bacterial Conjugation, Horizontal Gene Transfer, Protein Folding

Microm 499

Microm 499 offers the opportunity to learn current laboratory technology essential for industry or graduate school, and to participate in scientific research at the conceptual and technical levels. Microm 499 can therefore be a very rewarding experience, however it is a demanding and time-consuming endeavor. It is not for everyone, and for this reason is not required of microbiology majors.

Consider carefully your ability to commit the necessary time and effort before deciding to do a Microm 499 project. It is expected that students will register for 2-3 credits of Microm 499 for AT LEAST 2 quarters (1 credit is equal to 3 hrs per week). Students should expect to spend a minimum of 6-10 hours per week in the laboratory, and should be somewhat flexible with regard to scheduling time in the lab. Normally, Microm 499 students will also register for Microm 496, Library Research, with the 499 advisor.

There are many ways to go about identifying a research mentor. You can go directly to one or more faculty member(s) with whom you might be interested in working, use the Undergraduate Research Program (URP) database, or use networking to try and find a spot in a lab. 

Please be aware that not every laboratory may have an opening for a 499 student. Try to arrange your Microm 499 as far as possible in advance (1-2 Quarters) of the quarter you wish to begin. Once you have been accepted into a laboratory for Microm 499, Contact Andrea Pardo, Academic Adviser, to obtain an entry code to register for the course. A C/NC grade is given for each Quarter of research. Most research mentors require that the results of your study be written up as a research report; Microm 496 can be used for this purpose.

Undergraduate Research in any department may be used as an elective, provided the research project has the prior approval of the Undergraduate Research Advisor. Use this form to get your research approved if it is outside of MICRO department.

Microm 495

University Honors Program and Microbiology with Distinction students are required to carry out a research project (Microm 495). The procedures for identifying a research mentor and the necessary time commitments are similar to those for Microm 499, as described above. The major difference is that Microm 495 students will receive research credit only upon submission and acceptance of their research paper (Microm 496), and the research paper must be read by the research mentor and another faculty member (identified by the research mentor).

UW EEPS - The Equity and Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Program

The Equity and Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Sciences (UW-EEPS) program provides research opportunities for talented undergraduate students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds to perform hands-on research in the basic biological and physical sciences, in the broadly defined areas of drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, cellular pharmacology, molecular pharmacology, biophysical virology, and microbiology.

For more information, please see their UW EEPS page: https://sop.washington.edu/UWeeps/