Alam García-Heredia
TRAINING
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Postdoctoral Associate in the Biology Department, 2021-present. Advisor: Dr. Alan D. Grossman.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology, 2015-2021. Advisor: Dr. M. Sloan Siegrist.
Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL). Químico Bacteriólogo Parasitólogo (B. Sc. “Chemist Bacteriologist Parasitologist”), 2015. Advisors: Drs. Norma Heredia and Santos García.
AWARDS AND HONORS
-Sternberg Thesis Prize (Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Meeting), 2022.
-Byron Prize (UMass Amherst), 2022.
-Research Award in Natural Sciences (UANL), 2017.
-Honors Fellowship by Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), 14, 400 USD/year. 2015-2020.
-Top Student, 2014 UANL class
FUNDING
-Scholarship for Underrepresented Minorities, Boston Bacterial Meeting 2019.
-Scholarship for academic excellence in Bachelor´s studies by Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon, $3, 150 USD. 2010-2014.
-Scholarship for academic excellence to study German by Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, $1, 400 USD. 2009-2010.
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
10. Melzer, E. S., Kado, T., García-Heredia, A., Gupta, K. R., Meniche, X., Morita, Y. S., Sassetti, C. M., Rego, E. H., Siegrist, M. S. 2022. Cell wall damage reveals spatial flexibility in peptidoglycan synthesis and a nonredundant role for RodA in mycobacteria. Journal of Bacteriology, e00540-21 (bioRxiv 465981).
· Commentary article in “Localized Production of Cell Wall Precursors May Be Critical for Regulating the Mycobacterial Cell Wall” Journal of Bacteriology 2022
9. 9. Ortiz Y., García-Heredia, A., Merino-Mascorro, A., García, S., Solís-Soto, L., Heredia, N. (2021) Natural and synthetic antimicrobials reduce adherence of enteroaggregative and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli to epithelial cells. PLoS ONE 16(5): e0251096
8. 8. Pérez-Garza, J., Franco-Frías, E., García-Heredia, A., Leon, J. S., Jaykus, L. A., García, S. and Heredia, N. (2021). The cantaloupe farm environment has a diverse genetic pool of antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.
7.7. García-Heredia, A., Kado, T., Sein, C. E., Puffal, J., Osman, S. H., Judd, J., Gray, T. A., Morita, Y. S., Siegrist, M. S. (2021). Membrane-partitioned cell wall synthesis in mycobacteria. eLife, 10, e60263 (bioRxiv, 544338).
6. 6.Koyasseril-Yehiya, T. M.*, García-Heredia, A.*, Anson, F., Rangadurai, P., Siegrist, M. S., Thayumanavan, S. T. (2020). Supramolecular antibiotics: a strategy for conversion of broad-spectrum to narrow-spectrum antibiotics for Staphylococcus aureus. Nanoscale. 2020,12, 20693-20698.
· Featured as an Editor's Choice focusing on recent breakthroughs in nanobiotechnology
55. Corzo-Ariyama, H. A., García-Heredia, A., Heredia, N., García, S., León, J., Jaykus, L., and Solís-Soto, L. (2019). Phylogroups, pathotypes, biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli isolates in farms and packing facilities of tomato, jalapeño pepper and cantaloupe from Northern Mexico. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 290, 96-104.
44. García-Heredia, A.*, Pohane, A. A.*, Melzer, E. S., Carr, C. R., Fiolek, T. J., Rundell, S. R., Lim, H. C., Wagner, J. C., Morita, Y. S., Swarts, M. B and Siegrist, M. S. (2018). Peptidoglycan precursor synthesis along the sidewall of pole-growing mycobacteria. eLife, 7, e37243 (bioRxiv 292607).
· Insight article in “Tuberculosis: Breaking down walls,” eLife 2018
· Spotlight article in “Building Walls: Work that Never Ends,” Trends in Microbiology 2019
· Finalist for the 2019 Mahoney Life Sciences Prize
· Featured in “Fluorescent probes for investigating peptidoglycan biosynthesis in mycobacteria”, Current opinion in Chemical Biology 2020.
33. Puffal, J., García-Heredia, A., Rahlwes, K. C., Siegrist, M. S. and Morita, Y. S. (2018). Spatial control of cell envelope biosynthesis in mycobacteria. Pathogens and Disease, 76(4), fty027.
22. García-Heredia, A., García, S., Merino-Mascorro, J. A., Feng, P. and Heredia, N. (2016). Natural plant products inhibit growth and alter the swarming motility, biofilm formation, and expression of virulence genes in enteroaggregative and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Food Microbiology, 59: 124-132.
· Winner of the UANL 2017 Research Award in Natural Sciences
· Featured in the Ciencia UANL magazine, Jan-Feb 2018
1. García-Heredia, A., Orue, N., Heredia, N. and García, S. (2013). Efficacy of citrus-based disinfectants to inhibit growth, swarming, and biofilm formation of Salmonella and decontaminate parsley. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, 11(2), 1295-1299.
NON-PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
1. García-Heredia, A., Kado, T., Sein, C. E., Puffal, J., Osman, S. H., Judd, J., Gray, T. A., Morita, Y. S. and Siegrist, M. S. (2021). Detection of proteins in membrane fractions. Bio-protocol. bio-protocol.org/prep869
BOOKS AND CHAPTERS
3. Garcia, S., González, G. A., Dávila-Aviña, J., García-Heredia, A., Heredia, N. (2020). Natural Antimicrobials from Plants for Food Applications. In: Functional Foods and Biotechnology, Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients. (eds) Shetty, K. & Dipayan, S. Taylor & Francis Group.
* = equal contribution
2. García-Heredia A., Dávila-Aviña, J. E., Zoellner, C., Garcia-Amezquita, L. E., Heredia, N., Garcia, S. (2018). Essential oils and plant extracts as natural antimicrobial agents. In: Emerging Postharvest Treatment of Fruits and Vegetables. (eds) K. Barman, S. Sharma, M.W. Siddiqui. AAP-CRC Press. p317-352.
1. García, S., Heredia, N., Solís-Soto, L., Dávila-Aviña, J. and García-Heredia, A. (2016). Fisiología de Microorganismos, Manual de Laboratorio. Segunda Edición. Editorial Trillas. ISBN 978-607-17-2696-4.
· Best seller laboratory manual for training in elemental microbial physiology in Mexico
INVITED AND CONTRIBUITED TALKS
At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (postdoc 2021-present)
UMass Amherst (Byron Prize awardee), September 2022.
Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages meeting (Sternberg Thesis Prize awardee), August 2022.
At University of Massachusetts Amherst (Ph.D. 2015-2021)
Science on TAP, Boston College. July 2021
Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, UANL Mexico. June 2021
USA Junior Awards in Microbiology (JAM), University of Albany. Virtual visit. April 2021
Mycobacterial cell division super group meeting, virtual meeting. May 2020
Biophysics lunch, UMass Amherst Physics Department. February 2020
Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. January 2020
Centro de Especialidades Biomédicas del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, sección Noreste. January 2020
UMass Medical School. November 2019
Chemistry-Biology Interface Seminar, UMass Amherst. March 2019
Membrane interactions Slam, UMass Amherst. February 2019
Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) Colloquium, UMass Amherst. September 2016, February 2019
Harvard School of Public Health, September 2018
Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) retreat, UMass Amherst. October 2017
Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Chalk Talk, UMass Amherst. February 2017, November 2018
At Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Mexico, undergraduate 2010-2014)
Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (Mexico), 2013.
Congreso Anual de Inocuidad Alimentaria (Annual meeting of Food Safety, Mexico), 2013.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
At University of Massachusetts Amherst (Ph.D. 2015-2021)
Boston Bacterial Meeting (flash talk, Boston MA), 2020.
Gordon Research Conference in Molecular Membrane Biology (Andover NH), 2019.
Boston Bacterial Meeting (Boston MA), 2019.
Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium (Amherst MA), 2018.
Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Meeting (Madison WI), 2018.
Boston Bacterial Meeting (Boston MA), 2018.
Global Health Challenges Symposium (Amherst, MA), 2017.
Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium (Amherst MA), 2016.
Life Sciences Graduate Research Symposium (Amherst MA), 2016.
At Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (undergraduate 2010-2014)
American Society of Microbiology general meeting (Boston MA), 2016.
International Association for Food Protection annual meeting (Portland, OR), 2015.
American Society of Microbiology general meeting (New Orleans, LA), 2015.
Food Science, Biotechnology and Safety, (Monterrey, Mexico), 2014.
5th International Congress of Food Science and Food Biotechnology in Developing Countries, (Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico), 2012.
International Association for Food Protection annual meeting (Providence RI), 2012.
Inocuidad Alimentaria (Food Safety) annual meeting (Saltillo, Mexico), 2011.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Guest lecturer University of Massachusetts Amherst
Molecular Genetics, fall 2018
Teaching assistant University of Massachusetts Amherst
Introduction to Medical Microbiology, Spring 2017
Introduction to Microbiology Laboratory, Spring 2017
Laboratory in Molecular Genetics, Fall 2016
Introductory Biology I, Fall 2015-Spring 2016
MENTORING
Thameez M. Koyasseril Yehiya (Ph.D. graduate student-Chemistry program at UMass Amherst), 2018-present.
Yaraimi Ortiz (Sc. D. graduate student- Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), 2015-2020.
STUDENT COMMITTEES
Undergraduate thesis defense (external member)
2019- present. Ariadna del Rosario Nava García. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico
2019-2022. Carlos Azael Belmares Vela. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico
2019-2021. Natalia Estefanía Sánchez Rangel. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico
SERVICE
At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (postdoc 2021-present)
Boston Bacterial Meeting 2023 at Harvard University (Boston MA), co-chair.
Boston Bacterial Meeting 2022 at Harvard University (Boston MA), organizer and poster judge.
Ad hoc reviewer mBio (ASM)
At University of Massachusetts Amherst (Ph.D. 2015-2021)
Boston Bacterial Meeting 2021 at Harvard University (Boston MA; hosted virtually due the COVID-19 pandemic), organizer.
Boston Bacterial Meeting 2020 at Harvard University (Boston MA; hosted virtually due the COVID-19 pandemic), organizer and session moderator.
Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium 2020 at UMass Amherst, organizer.
Ad-hoc assistant in the PREP program at UMass, 2020.
Ad-hoc mentor in the IDGP On-Ramp Program at UMass, 2019-2020.
BRiDGE Scholars (at UMass), Member and organizer. 2019-present.
Graduate Student Liason, Microbiome faculty research for the Biology Department. Spring 2019.
Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium 2019 at UMass Amherst, organizer.
That´s Life Science Blog, member and editor. 2016-2017.
At Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Mexico, undergraduate 2010-2014)
Rapid Diagnostic Methods in Microbiology 2014 workshop at UANL, volunteer.
MEMBERSHIPS
American Society of Microbiology (ASM), 2014-2020.
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018-2020.
New England Society for Microscopy, 2018-2019.
Society for Applied Microbiology (SFAM), 2012-2015.
International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), 2013-2014.
Mexican Association for Food Protection A. C (AMEPAL), 2011-2014.
POPULAR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
May the Bees Be With You: Maintaining the Sweet Balance in Life. 2017. That´s Life [Science]: http://thatslifesci.com/2017-01-19-May-the-bees-be-with-you-maintaining-the-sweet-balance-in-life-AGarciaHeredia/
