Kris Spaeth

I attended the University of Buffalo in New York where I received a B.S. in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Cellular and Molecular Biology. While at UB I spent three years working for Dr. Bruce Nicholson. My undergraduate research involved looking at size exclusion limits of several different proteins that form a complex between neighboring cells known as Gap Junctions.

After I graduated from the University of Buffalo in 2002, I came to Duke University with an interest in studying how pathogens interact with their host. Once I finished my rotations in labs that worked with bacterial and viral pathogens, I decided to join the Dr. Raphael Valdivia's lab. One of the major goals of this lab is to find out how the bacterium Chlamydia is able to control the endocytic and exocytic pathways of the host cells it infects. Currently I am looking at several novel proteins made by Chlamydia and I am focusing on how these proteins interact with each other as well as with endogenous proteins from the host cells. My goal is to try to determine the function of these novel proteins and map out how they interact with each other.

In my opinion Duke University is an excellent place to attend graduate school. This University not only offers a broad range research interest, but also allows you the opportunity to find an area of research that best suits your interest. I am also pleased with the location of Duke University, not only is the weather fairly mild for most of the year (which is a big change from Buffalo) but both the mountains and coast line are within a couple hours driving time from Duke. I am quite happy with my decision to come to Duke University.

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