Alex Wessel

Alex Wessel is an MGI doctoral student in the Waters Lab. These are his answers to the Micro Biography questions:

How and when did you become interested in the field(s) of microbiology, genetics, and/or immunology?

I started working in a lab as an undergrad, mainly because it was a requirement for my BS degree in Microbiology. I chose to major in Microbiology because I knew I wanted to work in research, and I definitely didn't have the math skills to be a physicist. I quickly fell in love with working in a lab setting!

Were there any particular people or events who were influential in your journey?

I would say there are 2 people who were really influential to me and motivated my desire to pursue a career in research. The first is Dr. Andrew Olive, my undergrad mentor, because he's the one who let me see what it was like to be a scientist and really helped boost my confidence and pushed me to shake off my fear of failure. The second is my current PhD advisor, Dr. Chris Waters. When I took his Microbial Genetics class in my 4th year of undergrad, I became absolutely enamored with pathways in gene regulation and how bacteria sense their environments and respond to them using circuit-like mechanisms.

How did you come to be a part of this department?

I became part of this department by joining the BMS PhD program, and from the start I knew I wanted to stay in MGI. I had done my undergraduate studies in this department, and I knew a lot of professors whose research I was interested in, and it just seemed like a perfect fit for me.

What is your main role / research area right now and why is it important?

My research focuses on performing ultra high-throughput screens in V. cholerae to identify genes important for whatever processes we find interesting. Broadly speaking, I'm a tool builder. Right now, I'm using one I've developed to screen for genes that direct the expression of phage defense mechanisms. This is important because the genetic regulatory factors involved in the expression of phage defense genes are seriously understudied, and because understanding how phage defense genes are turned on/off might help us make more effective phage therapies to treat infections.

How do you see your role / research evolving?

It's hard to tell how much research will evolve! Like I said, I'm a tool builder, and because my tools can be used for such a wide variety of applications, I'd really like to see if people use my tools in different ways... ways that are more clever than I've been able to think of myself.

What types of activities are you involved in outside of work / research?

Outside of the lab, I spend a lot of time with my dog and watching whatever trash TV my partner is into at the time. Lately it's been Love Island US.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

This most recent season of Love Island US is total garbage. The currently airing season of Love Island UK, on the other hand, is about 20% better.

What is next for you? What do you see as your current career trajectory?

Hard to say what's next for me! I'm in the process of using the tools I've developed to do experiments that will tell us more about how bacteria turn on their phage defense genes. Hopefully these experiments go well and I can graduate soon. After that I'd like to find a job doing research in a more pharmaceutical setting where the work I'm doing has a more direct and tangible impact.