Yeh

PAMELA J. YEH, PH.D.

yehAssistant Professor, Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA

Tools and Techniques: microbial experimental evolution, drug susceptibility testing, network analysis, high throughput automated systems, automated image analysis, genomics, field work

Website: https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/Yeh/

Email: pamelajeanyeh@gmail.com

Interests: evolution, ecology, drug resistance, urbanization, sustainability, avian spread of diseases

Personal Statement:
I am an evolutionary biologist and I focus on evolution of drug resistance in bacteria. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how we can use drug combinations to slow down the evolution of increased antibiotic resistance, and to decrease the likelihood of future evolution of resistance. Using specific combinations of drugs, we can create fitness landscapes where we trap bacteria in local but not absolute maximal fitness. I am also interested in using network analysis to find drugs with novel mechanisms of action. While our lab has mostly worked with Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Escherichia coli, our ideas are generalizable across species. Another focus area of our lab is on human impacts and urbanization, particularly on 1) urban birds and their associated bacteria, and 2) bacterial diversity, density and drug resistance in public spaces, including hospitals, public transportation, and schools.