Skip to main content

Lamar Thomas, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Interests

  • Host-pathogen Interactions
  • Streptococcus pyogenes Streptococcus agalactiae
  • Bacterial Pathogenesis and Innate Immunity

At the Bench

Lamar obtained her Bachelors and Masters degree at the University of the West Indies, Kingston Jamaica. During this time her research focused on Plant Pathology and Biotechnology with an emphasis on fungal and viral agents. Upon migrating to the US, Lamar pursued her PhD in microbiology at Binghamton University where she identified and characterized a previously hypothetical gene, BvaP, an adhesion protein required for vaginal colonization. Now as a postdoc fellow at UCSD, Lamar continue to explore her love for pathogens associated with women health as she delves into the immunology arena, deciphering the importance of the c5a peptidase in Streptococcus agalactiae. (GBS).

Outside of Lab

Lamar hails from the island of Jamaica, growing up, she spent most of her time at the beach. After 6 years in cold New York she is happy to be in San Diego where she can once again spend quality time at the beach, primarily for meditation though since the water is a bit cold. Lamar is a yogi, a certified yoga instructor so you will often find her practicing her craft on hikes and nature trails.


Education

University Degree Year Field
University of California San Diego, La Jolla CA Postdoc 2023-present
Binghamton University, Binghamton New York Ph.D. 2023 Microbiology
University of the West Indies, Kingston Jamaica M.Phil 2014 Biotechnology
University of the West Indies, Kingston Jamaica B.Sc 2010 Biology

Honors and Awards

Year Honor/Award
2024 - 2025 University of California Presidents Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
2023 Binghamton University Student Marshal for Doctoral (PhD) Graduation Class of 2023
2023 - 2024 Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA)
2021 State university of New York (SUNY), Chancellor, Graduate Research Empowering and Accelerating Talent (GREAT) Award
2021 Binghamton University, Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Student Excellence Award
2021 Binghamton University 3-minute thesis (3MT) – 1st place
2020 - 2023 NIH NIAID F31
2018 - 2020 Binghamton University Clark's Fellowship

Publications

Thuan-Ethan Ngo, Andrew Ecker, Byeol Ryu, Aurora Guild, Ariana Remmel, Paul D. Boudreau, Kelsey L. Alexander, C. Benjamin Naman, Evgenia Glukhov, Nicole E. Avalon, Vikram V. Shende, Lamar Thomas, Samira Dahesh, Victor Nizet, Lena Gerwick, William H. Gerwick. Structure and biosynthesis of Hectoramide B, a linear depsipeptide from the marine cyanobacterium Moorena producens JHB discovered via Co-culture with Candida albicans. ACS Chemical Biology. 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.3c00391
Thomas, Lamar, S., Nicholas Faiola, Emily Canessa, Yetrib Hathout, and Laura C. Cook. In silico and experimental analysis of the repeated domains in BvaP, a protein important for GBS vaginal colonization. Infection and Immunity. 2023. 91(12): e00387-23. PMID: 37916807
Thomas, Lamar, and Laura Cook. A novel conserved protein in Streptococcus agalactiae, bvap, is important for vaginal colonization and biofilm formation. mSphere. 2022. e00421-22. PMID: PMC9769775
Lyles, Kristin. V., Lamar S Thomas, Laura Cook and Zehava Eichenbaum. 2022. HupZ, A unique heme- binding protein, enhances group A streptococcus fitness during mucosal colonization. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 12:867963. PMID: 35774404
Chatterjee, N., Cook, L.C., Lyles, K.V., Nguyen, H.A.T., Devlin, D.J., Thomas, L.S., and Z. Eichenbaum. A novel heme transporter from the energy coupling factor family is vital for group a streptococcus colonization and infections. Journal of Bacteriology. 2020. 202(14): e00205-20. PMID: 32393520
Thomas, L.S. and L.C. Cook. Review: Two-component signal transduction systems in the human pathogen, Streptococcus agalactiae. Infection and Immunity. 2020. 88(7):e00931-19. PMID: 31988177
Thomas, L.S. and P. Tennant. First report of leaf spot on Cucurbita pepo caused by Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex in Jamaica. New Disease Reports. 2019. 40, 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5197/j.2044-0588.2019.040.006