Lab News and Updates
Welcome MCB Rotation Students!
Dartmouth MCB rotation students Malavika (left) and Thyandra (right) have joined the Kowalski Lab for their winter rotations. In their first week, they are already both hard at work in the lab and are breaking in all the new lab equipment!
2025 M&I Pumpkin Contest
We teamed up with the Smith Lab for the M&I Pumpkin Carving Contest and made an “Attack of the Phages” pumpkin completed with google eyes and packets of phage capsid particles.
Happy Halloween!
Kowalski Lab is OPEN!
It has been a busy fall getting the lab set up with everything we need. We are still waiting on a lot of equipment, but today (10/27/25) Sylvia and I did the first experiments in the lab (bottom right). We are looking forward to welcoming rotation students this winter and having the space liven up!
Saying Goodbye to the Barber Lab
A wonderful 5 years in Eugene with the Barber Lab officially came to end this summer as the Kowalski Lab gets set up at Dartmouth Health. Will miss this talented and fun group that I have learned so much from!
Check out this YouTube Short by Oregon Public Broadcasting about our work!
Had a fantastic time at ASM Microbe!
My first time attending ASM Microbe and first time in LA! It was fun to catch up with grad school friends and announce that the Kowalski Lab is opening this fall at Dartmouth. There were so many excellent talks by both faculty and trainees – mind is so full!
Dante’ Graduated from UO! Next stop UW Madison & Grad School!
It was a joy to celebrate Dante’s graduation from UO and the Clark Honors College. Dante’s incredible 60 page thesis was awarded the Robert D Clark Award for standing out as ‘among the very best’! This fall Dante’ will start grad school at the University of Wisconsin to pursue her PhD in microbiology. She’s already been awarded the SciMed fellowship that will support her first year there. We know she will do amazing things in Madison!
Dante’ James completed her Honors College Thesis!
Superstar undergraduate Dante’ James submitted her Clark Honors College thesis and completed her oral defense on May 29th! Verdict was Passed with No Revisions! She wow’ed the packed room by telling two research stories that she has worked on over that past (almost) three years. The title of her thesis is: Exploring the Relationships Between Staphylococcus aureus and Skin Lipids.
Dante’ also received Honorable Mention for her NSF GRFP proposal this spring! And she presented a poster and gave a talk at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium!
The main findings from my postdoc work are now published in Current Biology!
Created in BioRender. Kowalski, C. (2025) https:// BioRender.com/o80i552
Thrilled to have this story live after a really great experience at Current Biology that included thoughtful reviewer critiques that ultimately made the paper so much better. Lots of changes from the original preprint but the most exciting addition is the identification of the antimicrobial effector generated by Malassezia sympodialis. This identification was made possible through collaboration with Thy Nguyen and Lindsay Kalan at McMaster University. Looking forward to building off this work in my own lab!
UO News article on the paper and paper here
Undergraduate Dante’ James rocked her flash talk & poster at ASM Northwest!
Dante’ presented her independent research project at the regional ASM meeting in November and was selected to give a flash talk! She is applying to PhD programs this fall and would be an amazing addition to any program. Her dedication to research, service, and sustainability are unmatched!
Final Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship Meeting
In November I attended my last fellowship meeting for the HHWF that has supported my postdoc work since April 2022. Attending these fellowship meetings has been a highlight of each fall for the past three years and it was such a treat to present on my work on the last day! The HHWF allowed me to meet so many fantastic scientists and hear about some really incredible research. If you have questions about applying please reach out!
Pictured above are the third year fellows at the MIT Endicott House.
Microbiome 2024 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Feeling fortunate to have attended and presented a poster at the Microbiome Meeting at beautiful Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory! It’s been great to integrate into the microbiome community over the past couple years and get to catch up with folks at the meeting. It was my first time at the historic CSHL and it sure was beautiful in the fall colors!
SPUR Symposium Supported by L’Oréal USA FWIS
Dante’ rocking her end of summer talk! Extra point for outfit matching the heat map!
Dante’ was supported by L’Oréal USA the summer as part of SPUR and had a very productive summer!
As part of my community engagement through the L’Oréal USA FWIS award I sponsored Dante’s summer stipend in the SPUR program, invited Dr. Jacqueline Kimmey to give a career development talk to the SPUR (+) students, and organized an end of symposium reception to celebrate all that the students have accomplished this summer!
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The Pore-fect team
This summer marks two years since Sylvia and Dante’ joined the lab as undergraduate researchers! They have both contributed tremendously to multiple projects – how does S. aureus adapt to skin commensals, how do skin secretions impact S. aureus antimicrobial sensitivity, and how do skin resident fungi form multicellular aggregates?
Working with them and seeing them become brilliant independent scientists has been the highlight of my postdoc.
Sylvia graduated this past spring and will be an incredible addition to any lab & Dante’ is currently applying to PhD grad programs to start in Fall 2025!
**Pore-fect team coined by Dante’
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9th Conference on Beneficial Microbes in Madison, WI
I had a great time attending my fist Conference on Beneficial Microbes! It was wonderful to learn about so many different systems to study symbioses and beneficial microbiota – from squid, to corals, bees, and humans! I particularly enjoyed the session on Microbe-Microbe Interactions in the Context of a Host and was so fortunate to be selected for a Flask Talk. It was a beautiful couple of days in Madison and I hope to be back to attend the next meeting!
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Summer Barber Lab hikes have been a great success!
We’ve enjoyed three hikes so far in and around Eugene this summer as a lab. Pictured here at Wild Iris Ridge on a beautiful summer day.
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Sylvia & Dante’ rocked the UO Undergrad Research Symposium!
Sylvia (Senior) and Dante’ (Junior) both gave oral presentations and presented posters at the 2024 URS. Dante’ gave a work in progress talk on her new project looking at sebum’s impact on S. aureus. Sylvia presented on her long-term project investigating the role of Stp1 in S. aureus tolerance to Malassezia and impact on antibiotic tolerance. This winter both students were also awarded internal grants that funded this work. Dante’ received the UnderGrebes award and Sylvia received the UROP Mini-Grant. Could not be more proud of the work they have done and looking forward to a busy summer with them both!
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The first part of my postdoc work is now submitted and the preprint is available!
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I am honored to be one of the MIT Biology 2024 Catalyst Fellows!
I am looking forward to meeting the MIT Biology community and other post doc fellows in April. A bit about our work can be found here.
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First small equipment purchase through the L’Oréal FWIS Award!
Looking forward to bead-beating some yeast!
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Undergraduate Dante’ James was highlighted for being a mighty woman at UO!
Photo credit: ILKA SANKARI
Dante’ joined the Barber Lab at the end of her freshman summer at the University of Oregon. She has contributed tremendously to my project and in the last 6 months since getting back from Vietnam has been kicking off a new exciting project for her honors thesis! Read all about Dante’ and her contributions to the larger community here and here. We are so lucky to have her!
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Congrats to undergraduate Sylvia!
One of my undergraduate students, Sylvia, was selected for a 3-min flash talk at the ASM NW Meeting in November 2023. Sylvia has been working on this project for over a year and has made incredible progress! She also walked away with a Runner Up poster award – all at her first conference!
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A Visit to the National Academy of Sciences
As part of the For Women in Science (FWIS) week in DC in November 2023, I had the opportunity give a short talk at the National Academies on my postdoc work related to the L’Oréal FWIS fellowship! It was an amazing opportunity to hear about the incredible work being done by the other four fellows! NAS also organized an entire day of activities including a mentorship panel, a discussion on scientific communication, and demonstrations from L’Oréal scientists! The event was even more special because my family and friends could attend the talk!
The short talks were live streamed and their recordings can be found here.
It was so inspiring to be surrounded by such incredible women in STEM!
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The L’Oréal For Women In Science Ceremony in Washington DC
FWIS week concluded with the awards ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Washington DC. About 300 people were in attendance including some young scientists from local universities, family, friends, and fellowship alumni. It was definitely the most glamorous I’ve ever felt! Each fellow had their videos played on the big screen before sharing a few remarks. I spoke briefly about how ‘Leave No Trace’ is a rule to live by when recreating outdoors but in science we are always trying to leave a trace, blazing new paths and helping others to follow along after us.
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Media Related to L’Oréal FWIS:
Q&A with 2023 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science winner Caitlin Kowalski GR’20 – The Dartmouth (01/03/2024)
Postdoc Honored for Innovative Work in Microbiology – Dartmouth (12/20/2023)
Caitlin Kowalski receives For Women in Science fellowship – University of Oregon (Around the O, 12/4/2023)
L’Oréal Fellowship Celebrates 20 Years, Awards Funding to Five Postdoctoral Scientists – AAAS (11/17/2023)
L’Oréal USA Announces 2023 for Women in Science Awardees, Marking 20-Year Commitment to Women in STEM – L’Oréal (11/13/2023)
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GRS/GRC: Staphylococcal Diseases
In July 2023, I attended the Gordon Research Seminar and Conference on Staphylococcal Diseases in beautiful Waterville Valley, NH. This was my first real immersion into the Staph field since I started studying S. aureus during my postdoc, and it was a very welcoming group of scientists! I had the opportunity to be discussion leader at the GRS for the section titled “Adaptation of Staphylococci to Its Host and the Environment Around It” which was a great way to introduce myself to the community. It was also such an honor to meet and introduce the incredible group of speakers. At the GRC, I was selected as one of the invited short talks in the session titled “Staphylococcal Interactions within the Microbial Community”. It was an honor to be included in the session with invited speakers who’s work has really inspired my own! Conference breaks were spent running in the lush (and rocky) NH mountains that I have certainly missed since moving away.
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2023 HHMI Leading Edge Symposium at Janelia
I feel so fortunate to have been selected to join the Leading Edge community as part of the 2023 cohort and attend the first in-person Leading Edge Symposium held in June 2023 at HHMI Janelia. Information on the 2023 cohort can be found here. I’ve never attended a meeting with so much compassion and support (and cheering and crying!). Witnessing what the community has already built together makes it such an honor to join them. As part of the symposium, the 2023 cohort gave short, high-level talks on our research and our career path/trajectory. My talk can be found here.
If you are eligible I highly encourage you to apply!
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Lab Trip to Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland
In March 2023, four members of the Barber Lab took the 10+ hour trip from Eugene, Oregon to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit Matt while he was on sabbatical at the Roslin Institute with his host Ross Fitzgerald. We had a joint meeting with the microbiology folks at Roslin and got to give short talks about our current research and attend workshops on bioinformatics and molecular approaches with S. aureus. Importantly, we also got to explore the amazing city as a lab!
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Keystone Symposium, Banff
Human Microbiome: Ecology and Evolution
In December 2022 I attended the Keystone Symposium on the Human Microbiome: Ecology and Evolution in Banff, Canada. I received the NK and Irene Cheung Family Travel Award to attend this meeting. I was also selected to give a short talk on my research in the section titled “Microbe-Microbe Interactions in Shaping the Microbiome” chaired by Dr. Britt Koskella. The talks and the views were amazing! Program information is available here.
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Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
In April 2022 I officially began working as a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow. This three year fellowship will provide the funding for my postdoctoral salary as I continue to investigate the interactions between skin-resident yeast and the pathogen S. aureus. A highlight of the fellowship as definitely been the annual meetings in Dedham, MA in November each year. A list of current Helen Hay fellows can be found here. A short story on the work that is funded by this fellowship was featured by the University of Oregon Around the O, and can be accessed here. Please reach out with questions if you are applying or at the interview stage!
Kowalski Lab 