Jennifer L. Koehl, Assistant Professor

Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA

In today’s society, approximately one-third of all antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriate or unnecessary. This overuse of antibiotics has helped generate "Superbugs," bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics.

In the past five years, clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus have been described with resistance to one of the last available antibiotics to treat this bacterium, the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin. The ‘false-target’ hypothesis suggests that glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus (GISA) strains trap vancomycin in excess cell wall material before it can reach critical D-alanyl-D-alanine targets in the cytoplasmic membrane or cell wall. Composition of the cell wall and associated properties of laboratory-created GISA strains were examined to further investigate the mechanism of vancomycin resistance in S. aureus. All of the GISA strains examined showed some alterations in cell wall composition. In general, the GISA cell walls had less crosslinking, some crossbridge substitutions, and less teichoic acid than their corresponding parent strain. The GISA strains showed decreased autolysis, which was not due to a change in the peptidoglycan substrate of the autolysins. Overall, this study did not support the ‘false-target’ hypothesis as being the sole explanation of vancomycin resistance.

I began my study of Biology at Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA where I graduated in 1995.

I, then, moved to Clarion University of Pennsylvania to pursue a Master of Science degree where I studied "Immunolocalization of annexin proteins in neutrophils treated with inflammatory and anti-inflammatory agents" under Dr. Douglas Smith. I graduated with a MS in 1997.

My journey then continued at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois (central Illinois). At ISU, I studied in Dr. Brian Wilkinson laboratory and investigated the phenotypical characteristics of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, particularly vancomycin-resistant S. aureus. At ISU, I also participated in the GAANN program, a grant-funded program through the Department of Education that allowed me to gain valuable teaching experience while completing my degree. I graduated from ISU in 2002 and began a tenure-tract position at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA that fall.

St. Vincent College is a four-year, coeducational, Catholic, liberal arts college sponsored by the Benedictine Monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Benedictine foundation in the United States, founded in 1846. Approximately, 1500 students attend St. Vincent College. In actuality, St. Vincent is very similar to Lycoming – one of the reasons that I chose to teach at St. Vincent’s is because of my experience at Lyco.