Michele completed her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology at Colgate University. She performed her graduate research in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Mougous at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she investigated the regulation of an interbacterial toxin delivery pathway, the type VI secretion system, in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Her postdoctoral training was in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Laub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied the biological role of toxin-antitoxin systems, discovering that they play a key role in phage defense. She has also engaged in work to improve support for scientist-parents. When she’s not infecting bacteria with phage, she enjoys board games, baking, and spending time outdoors with her two young kids.

Principal Investigator