Search In
/g>
  • A-Z Index
  • Faculty & Staff Resources
  • Jump
  • Make a Gift
  • UM Learn
  • Webmail
  • Search
Search
Search In
  • Home
  • Undergraduate
    • Undergraduate Programs
    • Undergraduate Courses
    • Final Exam Viewing
    • Awards and Scholarships
    • Science Co-op
  • Graduate
    • COVID-19 UPDATES
    • General Information
    • Applying for Graduate Studies
    • Registration
    • Graduate Courses
    • Graduate Program Regulations
    • Program Navigator
    • Awards and Scholarships
    • Staying Mentally Healthy
    • Careers
  • Student Clubs
    • Undergraduate Microbiology Student’s Club (MiSC)
    • MicroGSA
  • Faculty and Staff
    • Faculty Profiles
    • Support Staff
    • Graduate Students
    • Covid19 – Building Access Log
  • News and Events
    • Events
    • News & Events
  • About Us
    • Contact
Home>profiles>aleezagerstein

Aleeza Gerstein

Profile
Select Publications
Aleeza Gerstein
Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics in Fungal Microbes
On leave until June 30, 2023
(204) 272-1681
aleeza.gerstein@umanitoba.ca

Research and Teaching Interests

I lead the MicroStats Lab. We seek to understand the genotypic and phenotypic basis of stress resistance and adaptation in fungal microbes.  Unlike bacteria, which frequently acquire plasmid-mediated beneficial genes and alleles, fungal microbes primarily adapt through a range of genomic mutations (e.g., single nucleotide changes, insertions, deletions) and karyotypic mutations (i.e., changes in ploidy, the number of chromosome sets, and aneuploidy, copy number change in one or several chromosomes). We collaborate with clinicians in Manitoba to acquire and study isolates of human fungal pathogens, in addition to studies on the eukaryotic genetic model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We are particularly interested in determining the factors that constrain and promote diversity in the context of drug resistance and human virulence. We couple microbial experimental evolution with next generation sequencing and statistical techniques (e.g., genome wide association studies) to “peer under the hood of evolution” and directly probe the factors that influence the rate and genetic basis of adaptation.

Interested Students

I supervise Microbiology students interested in fungal evolution and genomics and Statistics students interested in developing new statistical and computational methods to analyze biological data. Interested students should contact me with a short description of their research interests (why do you want to be in the MicroStats Lab specifically?), their unofficial transcripts, and the names of two references.

 

Courses taught

MBIO4030 (fall 2019): Advanced Microbial Genetics Lab (Scientific communication sections)
MBIO7160/STAT4600 (fall 2019): Advanced Biostatistics
STAT2150 (spring 2020): Statistics and Computing
STAT7350 (spring 2019): Statistical Analysis and Visualization of Biological Data
MBIO7030 (spring 2019, 2020): Data Analysis and Visualization for Microbiologists (2 day workshop)

Links

https://microstatslab.ca
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=kvXed4cAAAAJ
https://github.com/acgerstein/

2019

A.C. Gerstein,  K.M. Jackson, T.R. McDonald, Y. Wang, B.D. Lueck, K.D. Smith, A. Akampurira, D.B. Meya, C. Xue, D.R. Boulware, K. Nielsen. Identification of pathogen genomic differences that impact human immune response and disease during Cryptococcus neoformans infection. mBio. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01440-19 (2019)

2018

S Yeaman, AC Gerstein, KA Hodgins, MC Whitlock. Quantifying how constraints limit the diversity of viable routes to adaptation. PLoS Genetics. 14: e1007717 (2018)

2017

AC Gerstein, H Lim^, J Berman & M Hickman. Ploidy tug-of-war: Evolutionary and genetic environments influence the rate of ploidy drive in a human fungal pathogen. Evolution. 71: 1025-1038. (2017)

2016

AC Gerstein, A Rosenberg, I Hecht & J Berman. diskiImageR: quantification of resistance and tolerance to antimicrobial drugs using disk diffusion assays. Microbiology. 162(7):1059-68. (2016)

Contact & Social Media
Asset 5
Asset 7
Asset 8
MAKE
A GIFT
General
Home
About Us
History
Student Clubs
News & Events
Events
Undergraduate
Undergraduate Programs
Undergraduate Courses
Final Exam Viewing
Co-op Program
Awards and Scholarships
Faculty and Staff
Faculty Profiles
Support Staff
Contact Information
General Information
Applying for Graduate Studies

DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY
213 BULLER BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA,
WINNIPEG, MB CANADA R3T 2N2
PHONE: 204.474.9372 FAX: 204.474.7603
@ 2019 UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

  • About Us
  • Applying for Graduate Studies
  • Awards and Scholarships
  • Careers
  • Contact Information
  • COVID-19 UPDATES
  • Faculty Members
  • General Information
  • Graduate Courses
  • Graduate Program Regulations
  • Graduate Students
  • Home
  • News & Events
  • Program Navigator
  • Registration
  • Staying Mentally Healthy
  • Student Clubs
  • Support Staff
  • Ticket Details
  • Ticket Receipt
  • Undergraduate
  • Theses