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Brief Biography
Jessica grew up in the Mid-Hudson Valley, New York, and received a B.S. in biological sciences from Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As an undergraduate, she studied reproductive biology of tree swallows in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She enjoyed her time at Cornell and applied to the dual degree program in hopes of combining both her love of ornithology and interests in veterinary medicine and wildlife conservation. For her thesis work, she is studying house finch antibody response to the pathogenic bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum, which causes conjunctivitis in free-living passerine birds.
Education
BS, Biological Sciences, from
Cornell University
Research Interests
I am studying mucosal and systemic antibody response in a passerine host-bacterial pathogen system. Mycoplasma gallisepticum, a well-known respiratory pathogen of poultry worldwide, is believed to have entered the populations of free-living avian populations relatively recently. In house finches, infection results in conjunctivitis. Under experimental conditions, I will measure IgA, IgY, and IgM response to M.gallisepticum, both locally (tears) and systemically (serum). I also developed a quantitative PCR to detect mycoplasma in conjunctival swabs, for concurrent quantification of pathogen load with antibody response measurements. Additionally, I am investigating the role of the Harderian gland (gland of the nictitating membrane), which functions as a peripheral lymphoid in birds, as a source of antibodies for the tears. I will be using immunohistochemistry to examine changes in plasma cell populations that take place in the Harderian gland post-infection. Because there is an incredible lack of immunological reagents available to study immune biology of non-galliform avian species, I first needed a reagent to detect house finch IgA. This polyclonal antibody was made by first cloning a fragment of house finch IgA heavy chain cDNA sequence, followed by recombinant expression in E.coli and subsequent purification. This protein was then used to immunize of rabbits.
Publications
In press: Grodio, J.L., Dhondt, K.V., O’Connell, P.H., and Schat, K.A. “Detection and quantification of Mycoplasma gallisepticum genome load in conjunctival samples of experimentally infected house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) using real-time PCR.” Avian Pathology.
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