People
Lab summer party, 2023
Department R01 celebration, 2022
Abby R Kroken, PhD
Abby earned her PhD at the Medical College of Wisconsin studying the structure and function of clostridial neurotoxins in the lab of Joseph Barbieri. She did her postdoctoral fellowship with Suzanne Fleiszig at UC Berkeley in the School of Optometry, where she developed her imaging skills to study the contact-lens associated pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and also become immersed in the cornea, contact lens, and vision science communities. She now investigates the role of toxins used by bacteria while colonizing corneal tissue. As an external and clear organ, the cornea presents a unique opportunity for simplified intravital imaging methods and single-cell imaging, allowing her and the lab to ask basic questions about host-pathogen biology and aid in solving vision-threatening problems.
Abby is from rural Wisconsin and spent much of her childhood planning to become an artist or maybe have a nice office job. A few influential teachers set her on a course to take microbiology halfway through college, from which there was no turning back. As a first gen college student, she is interested in continuing to ask (and now occasionally answer) naive questions about how science careers work.
Outside the lab, Abby enjoys caring for an extensive plant collection, scouring antique and thrift shops for unusual home decor, and learning to make challenging recipes. She aspires to take up kayaking and foster infant kittens (not simultaneously).
Rachel Mazurek
Hometown: Des Plaines, IL
B.S., Elmhurst University, Biology major
Bacteria, fur babies, spooky season, and heavy metal. Christmas begins Nov 1st.
Adam Thota
Hometown: Muskego, WI
B.S., Wisconsin Lutheran College
M.S., Loyola University Chicago, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zach Resko
Postdoc
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
B.S., Duquesne University: Biological Sciences major
PhD, Loyola University Chicago, Microbiology & Immunology
Support Staff
Halimede Kroken-Rusch
Age 3
The Lost Companion,
class of 2021
collects houseplant leaves
Gimli Mazurek
Age 5
likes the cat and CAR RIDES
Lettuce Mazurek
Age 7
likes anything that remotely resembles food
Shiloh Thota
Age 6
primarily interested in napping
Bilbo Bunnins Mazurek
Red Door Shelter,
class of 2023
loves adventures and bananas
Bean Resko
Age 1
sock collecting enthusiast
Mochi Serrato
Age 2
anything on the floor is a treat, including the cat
Momo Serrato
Age 1
Brownstone Animal Shelter,
class of 2023
Chicagoland kitty parkour champion
Lab Alumni
Keith Klein, Inaugural lab member
Research Assistant II, 2021-2022
Kroken AR, Klein KA, Mitchell PS, Nieto V, Jedel EJ, Evans DJ, Fleiszig SMJ. Intracellular replication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in epithelial cells requires suppression of the caspase-4 inflammasome. mSphere. 2023 Aug 17:e0035123.
After Kroken lab: Medical School at University of Illinois Chicago