Jessica Sheldon, Ph.D.

Former Postdoctoral Researcher in Skaar Lab

Jess is from Canada and earned her HBSc and MSc degrees from Lakehead University, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she investigated the role of sigma factors in the survival of pathogenic Escherichia coli. From there she moved to her hometown of London, Ontario to pursue her PhD with Dr. David Heinrichs at the University of Western Ontario, characterizing a novel staphylococcal citrate synthase and defining its role in Staphylococcus aureus iron acquisition and pathogenesis. For her postdoctoral research in the Skaar Lab, she investigated the role of nutrient metals in Acinetobacter baumannii infection and worked to define the innate immune response to infection by this pathogen. Jess returned to Canada as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. The overarching theme of research in the Sheldon Lab is investigating how nutrient acquisition in medically relevant bacteria contributes to their survival and pathogenesis within the host.