Noah Baldwin
Noah is a rising senior at Bowdoin College where he is studying integrative biology. His past undergraduate research involved studying the effect of altered glomerular basement membranes on podocyte function in Alport syndrome. Through the Ó³»´«Ã½ Summer Research Program, Noah is focused on advancing rapid diagnostics and understanding heteroresistance in fungal pathogens while under mentorship.
Fungal infections are a global health crisis, causing 1.6 million annual deaths and substantial healthcare costs, as current diagnostics for species identification and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are slow.
My time in the Ó³»´«Ã½ Summer Research Program didn’t just deepen my understanding of infectious disease—it transformed the way I think as a scientist. Through the guidance of incredible mentors and hands-on experience in cutting-edge research, I gained both the technical skills and the confidence to pursue meaningful scientific questions. Our research addresses this critical gap by developing rapid, RNA-based diagnostic tools and investigating unique resistance mechanisms in Candida glabrata. We hypothesize that fungal strains behaving like susceptible strains, despite being classified as resistant, are heteroresistant due to specific genetic factors. Our project employs Go PhAST-R, a novel transcriptomic method for Antifungal Susceptibility Testing (AST) that detects differentially expressed gene transcripts. This rapid, agnostic approach, initially for bacteria, is being expanded to fungal pathogens, starting with Candida species. To investigate heteroresistance, observed in Candida glabrata resistance to micafungin, we use Population Analysis Profile with Propagating (PAPP) to confirm and enrich resistant subpopulations. These undergo whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify genetic drivers. Additionally, a waxworm larval model will assess micafungin's efficacy as a first-line therapeutic to reduce fungal burden and mortality. We anticipate PAPP will confirm heteroresistance and WGS will reveal associated genetic mutations. These findings will provide mechanistic insights into fungal resistance and advance the Fungal GoPhAST-R Workflow (95% accurate in bacteria). Ultimately, this research will lead to faster, more effective fungal infection diagnostics, improving patient outcomes and reducing mortality and costs.
Project: Advancing Rapid Diagnostics and Understanding Heteroresistance in Candida glabrata
Mentor: Elizabeth Yee, Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program
