Lisa A Cuchara

Prof. Cuchara has several research interests in the field of infectious diseases: antibiotic resistance, the role of fomites in transmission, and Vaccine Preventable Diseases. Prof. Cuchara did her post-doc at the National Cancer Institute and from there went to run the Histocompatibility Lab at Yale University School of Medicine (lab testing for organ & bone marrow transplants and autoimmune diseases and research on the alloimmune response and chronic graft rejection).

Her research projects include: vaccine hesitancy, vaccine preventable diseases, the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in water, soil & food, the existence of antibiotic resistant bacteria on fomites in both the public & healthcare venues, MRSA, the colonization of bacterial species in healthy individuals, nosocomial infections, emerging diseases caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria, and commensals and opportunistic bacteria. These projects include techniques such as bacterial culturing via aseptic techniques, selective & differential biochemical testing, antibiotic resistance testing, DNA extraction, PCR amplification (mainly for virulence & antibiotic resistance genes, 16s rRNA bacterial genotyping, etc. She has had over 160 QU UG & grad students involved in her different research projects and they have presented many posters at the QU poster days and at a plethora of research presentations at scientific conferences outside of QU (Regional & National Sigma XI Conferences, CT Public Health Association Conference, Regional & National American Society of Microbiology Conferences.

“I believe that the love of learning and “the big picture” are more important than just filling a student's head with facts that are only retained until the exam takes place. Hence my teaching philosophy: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire". Everyone talks about IQ and now EQ, but CQ and PQ are equally important (curiosity & passion quotients). My philosophy is that learning is an active process involving an intellectual presence. I am passionate about creating “citizen scientists” incorporating it into my classes.

Lauren Aber, Felix Cusano, Soren Jonzzon, Nicole Filardi, Olivia Pelleier, William Sieff, Akorfa Abodor, Marcquan Parris, and Lisa Cuchara. An Epidemiological Survey of Toothbrush Contamination in Communal Bathrooms. American Society for Microbiology, Annual National Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana. June 2015. Project also interviewed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqcCkTolCkQ

Lauren Aber, Felix Cusano, Soren Jonzzon, Nicole Filardi, Olivia Pelletier and Lisa Cuchara. October 2014. An Epidemiological Survey of Toothbrush Contamination in Communal Bathrooms. American Society for Microbiology, 49th Annual Regional Meeting. Albany, New York.

Ahmed Kabrah and Lisa Cuchara. October 2014. Effect of Onion on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. American Society for Microbiology, 49th Annual Regional Meeting. Albany, New York.

Faisal Minshawi and Lisa Cuchara. October 2014. Determination of PVL gene in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from oral and nasal cavities; and assessing the knowledge toward of Staphylococcus aureus infection between science and non-science students. American Society for Microbiology, 49th Annual Regional Meeting. Albany, New York.

Lauren Aber, Felix Cusano, Soren Jonzzon, Nicole Filardi, Olivia Pelleier, William Sieff, Akorfa Abodor, Marcquan Parris, and Lisa Cuchara. An Epidemiological Survey of Toothbrush Contamination in Communal Bathrooms. American Society for Microbiology, Annual National Meeting. New Orleans. June 2015.

Georgiana N. Kourepenos; Jessica Kuchta, Kristen Bender and Lisa Cuchara, Ph.D. “Are Vaccine Myths and Misconceptions Driving Outbreaks of Infectious Diseases?” Sigma Xi Annual Meeting & Student Research Conference. November 2016 Atlanta, Georgia.

Rivas, Jocelyn E; Hines, Kaitlin S, Clemons, Tiana L and Lisa Cuchara PhD. Deadly Choices: