Bates’ Chemistry professor Paula Schlax, Ph.D., was awarded a $345,000 NIH grant to study the genetics of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The grant will include student research support for Bates’ undergraduates. Schlax started working with the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, when she received funding through Maine INBRE in 2009. The Maine INBRE award allowed her to focus on understanding gene regulation in Borrelia.
She remains involved in the statewide INBRE program serving as a mentor to two current INBRE project leaders, Bates Physics’ professor Dr. Jason Gould and Dr. Danielle Dube, a Chemistry professor at Bowdoin College.