Academic Affiliation
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Credentials
PhD, 1994, Louisiana State University
Bio
Cheryl A. Nickerson, PhD, pursues multidisciplinary research incorporating biology, the physical sciences and engineering. Her research interests include the development of innovative biologically meaningful models for infectious disease and drug development, including: the use of 3-D cell culture modeling in infectious disease; understanding the effect of mechanical forces on microbial cellular responses and virulence; understanding the effect of spaceflight on microbial physiology, host-pathogen interactions and infectious disease; understanding the functional host range of bacterial DNA islands and the evolution of bacterial pathogenesis.
Nickerson joined the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology in January of 2006. Nickerson, formerly with the Tulane University Medical Center, is a leading astrobiology researcher, serving as co-director of the Tulane Environmental Astrobiology Center, the director of the Tulane Center for Excellence in Bioengineering at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center, and having several experiments flown on-board NASA Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions. Nickerson’s research group was awarded an experimental payload on-board NASA Space Shuttle Mission 12A (STS 115) on the Space Shuttle Atlantis in August, 2006. Her research is funded by multiple federal and industrial grants.
Nickerson is the author of 35 research publications, co-author of the book Molecular Paradigms of Infectious Disease: A Bacterial Perspective, two book chapters and has been awarded 2 patents with an additional patent pending.
Nickerson was a NASA Astronaut Candidate finalist in the Astronaut Class of 2004. Among her many awards were the 2002 “Women of the Year,” award by the New Orleans City Business, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from NASA, a Scientific Consultant for NASA Life Sciences Program at the Johnson Space Center, 2004 Outstanding Newcomb College Alumnae, and the Charles C. Randall Award for Outstanding Young Faculty Member, S. Central Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).
Nickerson received her B.S. in Biology from Tulane University; M.S. in Genetics from the University of Missouri, Columbia; Ph.D. from Louisiana State University; and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Washington University, St. Louis, MO.