Research Group

Michael Wannemuehler, PhD    /    E-mail: mjwannem@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2178 Vet Med
Hi! My name is Michael Wannemuehler and I am a Professor and Chair in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State. I received my PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville, my MS in Microbiology was from Idaho State University, and my Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology was received from Purdue University. I completed my postdoctoral research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. My current research interests include the study of T and B cell responses induced using novel nanoparticle vaccine formulations including the induction of long-lived immunity (using mice and livestock species), and understanding the interactions between the intestinal microbiota and the host as it relates to gastrointestinal inflammation, immune responsiveness, gut-brain axis, and behavior.  These studies utilize both gnotobiotic (i.e., defined microbiota) and conventional mice.

Bryan Belliare, PhD    /    E-mail: bbella@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 1136 Vet Med
Hi! My name is Bryan Bellaire and I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine at Iowa State and serve as the Director for the Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory in the College of Veterinary Medicine. I received my Bachelors degree in Microbiology from Northern Arizona University and my PhD from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center – Shreveport in Microbiology studying virulence mechanisms of bacterial pathogens. I then went outside my discipline to study host responses to pathogens also at LSUHSC. My current research interests are in developing improved vaccines and therapeutics against highly infectious and chronic bacterial pathogens using nanomaterials developed in collaboration with Balaji’s lab.

Rebecca Cademartiri, PhD    /    E-mail: rcademar@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 1031 Sweeney Hall
Hi! My name is Rebecca Cademartiri and I am an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State. I received my PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Potsdam and my Diploma from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, in Organic Chemistry. I performed postdoctoral research at McMaster University, Tufts University and Harvard University. My current research interests are in interactions of biological entities, especially bacteriophages, with materials for detection of bacteria, protection of plants, animals and humans from bacterial infections; and treatment of bacterial infections in animals and humans.

Qun Wang, PhD    /    E-mail: qunwang@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! My name is Qun Wang and I am an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State. I received PhDs in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kansas and in Environmental Science and Engineering from Wuhan University. I also received MS and BS degrees in Environmental Engineering from Wuhan and Zhejiang University, respectively. I was a Jorge Heller Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. My current research interests are focused on integrating materials science, stem cells, microfabrication, and pharmaceutical chemistry to address ago develop functional materials for biomedicine.