Research Interests and Accomplishments

Dr. Lisa Zeigler Allen is an Assistant Professor in the Microbial and Environmental Genomics Department at JCVI. Her research is directed towards understanding microbial and viral interactions through large-scale metagenomic, single cell/virion genomic and cultivation based approaches. She led the experimental design and implementation of the first single virion isolation and genomic characterization and is currently using these techniques to evaluate samples from the natural environment.  Through community level analyses of microbial and virioplankton consortia and culture-based virus/host dynamics, in particular eukaryotic phytoplankton host/virus, she is investigating the influence of viruses on host function, ecosystem performance, community-level diversity and the evolution of hosts.

Prior to becoming an Assistant Professor at JCVI, Lisa received her Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography where she studied marine natural products and microbial and viral ecology using genome-enabled approaches. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biological Sciences at Washington State University and conducted undergraduate research on plant genetics in the lab of Diter von Wettstein.

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