Joy Sturtevant, PhD, received a PhD in Immunology from Duke University, Durham, NC in 1985. Dr. Sturtevant conducted her postdoctoral training in Invertebrate Immunology Mycology with Dr. Jean-Paul Latg at the Institute Pasteur, Paris, France. She continued in Medical Mycology at Georgetown University Medical School, first under the direction of Dr. Richard Calderone and then as an Assistant Professor. In 2002, Dr. Sturtevant became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology, in the Center of Excellence in Oral Biology at the Dental School. She is now a Professor as well as adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Periodontics. Dr. Sturtevant’s work focuses on the role of 14-3-3 genes in eukaryotic pathogens. The research investigates the manner in which 14-3-3 proteins regulate pathogen response to new environments and adaptation to host. 14-3-3 proteins are multifunctional, signal transduction modules and involved in a wide variety of cellular processes in all eukaryotes. The laboratory is using a combination of molecular genetics, microbiological, and immunochemical methods in conjunction with cellular and in vivo studies to determine the roles of specified genes. The major project focuses on the role of the 14-3-3 protein in Candida which pathogenic fungi adapt to the mammalian host and differentiate during colonization and infection. In particular, the research focuses on the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans, an opportunistic fungus. A second project focuses on the role of 14-3-3 proteins during the life cycle in the human protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.

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