Gabriell Papp of Amarillo, Texas graduated cum Laude with honors from Colorado State University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and a minor in women’s studies. While under the supervision of CSU’s Dr. Gregory Robertson, her research focused on the genetic determinants of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It sought to quantify potential collateral damage that could arise from the use of novel rifamycin-based antibiotics (developed for other non-tuberculosis disease indications) if those same patients also had undiagnosed tuberculosis disease. This research is the basis for her senior honors thesis entitled, “Quantify the Frequency and Determine the Genetic Basis of Antimicrobial Drug Resistance in Virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis.” She also led an independent study under the supervision of Dr. Traci Kinkel, utilizing culture dependent and independent methods to analyze the reptile skin and gut microbiome. This research was compiled into a poster entitled, “Optimization and Initial Characterization of the Reptile Microbiome,” which won an undergraduate poster award at the 2022 meeting of the Rocky Mountain Branch of the American Society of Microbiology.
In addition to research, Papp is a recipient of the CSU Presidential Scholarship and a two-time recipient of the Patsy Boyer Memorial Scholarship. She had three years of experience managing the laboratory support team for the Robertson lab’s tuberculosis research group, a role that included work in BSL-2 and BSL-3 lab settings. She also tutored advanced organic chemistry for CSU’s Institute for Learning and Teaching and worked as a teaching assistant for the Introduction to Research Methods, General Microbiology Laboratory and Virology classes.
Papp decided to pursue a PhD because she is driven to help people and thrives on the challenge of scientific research and academic learning. She plans to continue work in the fields of genetics and drug discovery during her time at St. Jude.
Hometown: Amarillo, Texas