Kyle Bauckman

Background

About Kyle Bauckman

Contributions to Medical Education I am a lifelong academic that has found a true passion in medical education in both design and implementation. I have carried out and managed a wide range of tasks and assignments since starting at the Dr. Kiran Patel college of Allopathic Medicine (NSU MD) four years ago. These include but are not limited to course directing, curriculum mapping and development, design and implementation of large and small group active learning sessions (PBL, TBL, CBL) and much more. Along with my teaching responsibilities, I am the director of student research, which includes mentoring students in applying for summer scholarships, fellowships, and more. Further, I have a strong interest in the admissions process at NSU MD and have developed a number of on-going related research projects. Past Contribution to Science 1. Iron regulation in ovarian cancer: I received my doctoral training at Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida in the lab of Dr. Meera Nanjundan. In my thesis work, I characterized the role of iron in ovarian cell lines. I found that a Ras mutation that caused hyperactivation of the RAS protein made cells sensitive to iron-induced death. Conversely, blockage of RAS signaling prevented iron sensitivity. This revealed a novel sensitivity to iron in specific types of cancer cells. In a second project, I helped solve the problem that very few immortalized endometriotic cell lines are available for study by helping to develop a novel endometriotic cell line from normal endometriotic tissue. This resource will significantly enrich the field of endometriosis research. Ferritinophagy in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli persistence in the bladder: My interests in the role of iron in homeostasis and disease led me to Dr. Indira Mysorekar’s laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Here, I investigated how a host and both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria within that host respond to iron, which is critical for the survival of nearly all forms of life. Specifically, I am investigating the role of iron in urinary tract infections (UTIs) by Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the predominant cause of UTIs. I am particularly interested in the interplay between UPEC pathogenesis, biological iron, and the cellular recycling pathway autophagy. In many cases, autophagy degrades pathogens and thereby protects host cells from infections. However, our lab has shown that UPEC persist within the urinary tract epithelium (urothelium) by forming reservoirs within autophagosomes.