Nanami Kubota

PhD student in the Cooper Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Research on bacteria and phage coevolution.

EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology
2020 – Present
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Program in Microbiology and Immunology
Advisor: Dr. Vaughn S. Cooper
B.A. in Biology
2016 – 2020
Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Advisor: Dr. John J. Dennehy
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Graduate Research Assistant
August 2020 – Present
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
Advisor: Dr. Vaughn S. Cooper
Research Technician
June 2020 – July 2020
Biology Department, Queens College, CUNY
Advisor: Dr. John J. Dennehy
Undergraduate Researcher
February 2017 – June 2020
Biology Department, Queens College, CUNY
Advisor: Dr. John J. Dennehy
Undergraduate Researcher
August 2016 – June 2020
Biology Department, Queens College, CUNY
Advisor: Dr. José D. Anadón
High School Researcher
August 2014 – June 2016
Biology Department, Queens College, CUNY
Advisor: Dr. José D. Anadón
HONORS AND AWARDS
2023
Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Diversity Fellowship, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health
2020
Colwin Award (awarded to a graduating senior for outstanding research in biology), Biology Department at Queens College, CUNY

Provost’s Award (awarded to 2 graduating seniors selected by the Chief Academic Officer for remarkable academic achievement and postgraduate potential), Macaulay Honors College, CUNY

Honors in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Queens College, CUNY
2016
University Scholar (full merit scholarship for undergraduate studies), Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, CUNY
PUBLICATIONS
  1. Kubota N, Abellán P, Gaspar M, & Anadón JD. (2025). Precipitation Steepness Drives Global Patterns of Changes in Bird Community Composition Without Major Phylogenetic Signal. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34(3), e70023.
  2. Holland M, Farinella DN, Cruz-Lorenzo E, Laubscher MI, Doakes DA, Ramos MA, Kubota N, and Levin TC. (2023). L. pneumophila resists its self-harming metabolite HGA via secreted factors and collective peroxide scavenging. mBio, e01207-23.
  3. Smyth DS, Trujillo M, Gregory DA, Cheung K, Gao A, Graham M, Guan Y, Guldenpfennig C, Hoxie I, Kannoly S, Kubota N, Lyddon TD, Markman M, Rushford C, San KM, Sompanya G, Spagnolo F, Suarez R, Teixeiro E, Daniels M, Johnson MC, & Dennehy JJ. (2022). Tracking cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineages detected in NYC wastewater. Nature Communications, 13(1), 635.
  4. Trujillo M, Cheung K, Gao A, Hoxie I, Kannoly S, Kubota N, San KM, Smyth DS, Dennehy JJ. (2021) Protocol for safe, affordable, and reproducible isolation and quantitation of SARS-CoV- 2 RNA from wastewater. PLoS One 16, e0257454.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
Invited Talks
2024
”Cheater phages enable their bacterial hosts to exploit cooperative bacteria and drive the population to lower fitness." The Social Lives of Viruses, Puerto Rico.

2022
"Applying Game Theory to Microbial Evolution." University of Cincinnati, Guest Lecturer for Undergraduate Microbiology. (Virtual)

Conference Presentations
2024
"Cheater phages enable their bacterial hosts to exploit cooperative bacteria and drive the population to lower fitness." Evolution 2024 in Montreal, Canada. (Oral presentation)

"Cheater phages enable their bacterial hosts to exploit cooperative bacteria and drive the population to lower fitness." Program in Microbiology and Immunology (PMI) Day, University of Pittsburgh. (Oral presentation)

"Cheater phages enable their bacterial hosts to exploit cooperative bacteria and drive the population to lower fitness." Biomedical Graduate Student Association Symposium at the University of Pittsburgh. (Poster & Poster award)

2023
"Prisoner’s dilemma: Prophage can enable their bacterial hosts to exploit cooperative bacteria and drive the population to lower fitness." Gordon Research Conference Microbial Population Biology. (Poster)

"Prisoner’s dilemma: Prophage can enable their bacterial hosts to exploit cooperative bacteria and drive the population to lower fitness." Evergreen International Phage Meeting. (Poster & Poster award)

2022
"Impact of Pf prophage on the evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa." Pittsburgh Phage Project (P3) Symposium, University of Pittsburgh. (Poster)

"Impact of Pf prophage on the evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa." Meetings in Microbial Ecology & Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany. (Poster)
TEACHING, MENTORING, AND LEADERSHIP
First Year Ambassador
2022 – 2024
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Biomedical Graduate Student Association
  • Mentored and organized events for first-year PhD students to help them adjust to and navigate through graduate school.
Vice President of Finance
2022 – 2023
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Biomedical Graduate Student Association
  • Managed financial accounts for the Biomedical Graduate Student Association (BGSA).
Travel Awards Chair
2022 – 2023
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Biomedical Graduate Student Association
  • Led and coordinated the committee responsible for reviewing and selecting travel award recipients.
Microbiology and Immunology Program Retreat Organizer
2022 – 2023
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Program in Microbiology and Immunology
  • Organized the first retreat for doctoral program (~175 attendees), resulting in a plan to make it an annual event.