Who we are
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Dr. Catherine (Cathy) A. Hernandez
Principal Investigator
Bio: Before starting at USC in Jan. 2026, Cathy completed her PhD in the Koskella lab at UC Berkeley in 2021, studying coevolution between phages and the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. She did her postdoctoral training from 2021-2025 in the Turner lab at Yale University, pivoting to marine phage-host interactions.
Sarah McNesby
Post-bac
Graduation Year: TBD
Major: TBD
Minor: TBD
Research Interests: TBD
Aniyah Henderson
Undergraduate
Graduation Year: 2029
Major: Accelerated M.S. in Biological Sciences
Minor: Environmental Studies
Research Interests: Prophage effects on environmental and human health
Hannah Kaplan
Undergraduate
Graduation Year: 2027
Major: Biological Sciences
Minor: Anthropology
Research Interests: Prophage identification and prediction in bacterial genomes
Emily Peterson
Undergraduate
Graduation Year: 2026
Major: Biological Sciences
Research Interests: Bacterial phage defense systems
Mary Ann Zyglocke
Undergraduate
Graduation Year: 2028
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Research Interests: Bacteriophage ecology and evolution
Lab Mascots
Mia and Josie
Year: 8 and 2
Major: Animal Nutrition
Minor: Insect Behavior
Research Interests: The physics of toy springs