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Sydney Morrill

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Interests

  • Host Pathogen Interactions
  • Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
  • Advocacy & Outreach

At the Bench

Sydney received a B.S. in microbiology from UC Davis, where she began her lab career studying soil bacteria and their enzymatic activity. She shifted her focus to medical microbiology upon entering graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis. Sydney received her Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Amanda Lewis, where she studied the vaginal microbiome and its impact on gonorrhoeae infection. Sydney joined the Nizet group in 2023 as a postdoctoral fellow, where she continues to work with Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Now her postdoc research involves the development of a gonococcal nanoparticle vaccine, as well as investigating therapeutic options for antibiotic resistant gonorrhoeae.

Outside of Lab

When not in lab, Sydney spends her time taking acting classes and performing improv around San Diego. She also enjoys reading, running, and sitting down with a good video game. She is doing very well in her online competitive Pokemon league, which she feels prouder of than she probably should.

Education

University Degree Year Field
University of California San Diego, La Jolla CA Postdoc 2023-present Microbiology, Vaccinology, Host-Pathogen Interactions
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis IL Ph.D. 2023 Medical Microbiology
University of California Davis, Davis CA B.S. 2016 Microbiology

 

Honors

Year Honor/Award
2023 Reproductive Sciences T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, UC San Diego
2023 2023 NexGen Oral Presentation award, San Diego Glycobiology Symposium
2022 Best postdoctoral scholar/PhD presentation, Annual Robert Resnik Research Day, Department of Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences
2018 Cellular and Molecular Biology T32 Fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis

Publications

Agarwal K, Choudhury B, Robinson LS, Morrill SR, Bouchibiti Y, Chilin-Fuentes D, Rosental SB, Fisch KM, Peipert JF, Lebrilla CB, Allsworth JE, Lewis AL, Lewis WG. Resident microbes shape the vaginal epithelial glycan landscape. Sci Trans Med. 2023. Nov 29;15(724):eabp9599

Graddy CMR, Gomez MG, Kline LM, Morrill SR, DeJong JT, Nelson DC. Diversity of Sporosarcina-like bacteria strains obtained from Meter-Scale augmented and stimulated biocementation experiments. Environ Sci Technol 2018, 52, 7, 3997-4005.