The Smyth Lab Team

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Davida Smyth

Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Texas A&M University in San Antonio

Davida S. Smyth holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland, and completed her postdoctoral training at New York Medical College, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and New York University. She has served as Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School and was the chairperson of the Department of Natural Sciences in Mercy College’s School of Health and Natural Sciences, where she taught environmental science, introductory biology, microbiology, and genetics and developed the first CURE course “Microbiology of Urban Spaces“. Previously, she has held Assistant Research Scientist status in the lab of Professor Richard Novick at NYU Langone Medical Center and was an Adjunct Lecturer for the online Masters in Bioinformatics program at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Prior to joining Mercy, Dr. Smyth was Assistant Professor of Biology at New York City College of Technology (NYCCT) where she coordinated the microbiology course, established and ran the internship course for biomedical informatics, and acted as program coordinator for biomedical informatics (in 2015).

Dr. Smyth has published extensively in the field of microbial epidemiology and has more than 20 original articles in peer-reviewed journals. She is an associate editor for BMC Infectious Diseases, Frontiers in Microbiology, and PLOS One. She is devoted to undergraduate research. Her students have presented their work at several national meetings including the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) annual conference.

Dr. Smyth conducts research with her undergraduate team in the area of comparative microbial genomics and evolution, studying Staphylococcus aureus from animals and from humans and researches the role of the built environment and anthropogenic activity in driving antibiotic resistance, a major global health threat. She also engages in pedagogical research on improving civic and scientific literacy in biology and integrating authentic research into the curriculum to improve student engagement and success in science. Dr. Smyth also guides and mentors future faculty and adjuncts to successfully apply for academic positions in teaching and beyond. In 2016, she was appointed a Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) leadership fellow and as part of her fellowship, she guides SENCER and non-SENCER faculty, as well as K12 teachers, to incorporate SENCER ideals in their classrooms. In 2018, she was awarded the Mercy College Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2020, Davida became Deputy Director of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement.


Current Graduate Students

LYNDSY STACEY

Biology Program

Ariel Robles

Biology Program

 

Current Undergraduate Students

Rebecca McGehee

Stephanie Davidson

Joshua Rath

Treife Li

Gabriel Perez

Jasmin

 

Former Postdoctoral Fellow

REMNet Project Manager

Smyth Lab SciComm

Starla Thornhill

Currently working at NASA

Geena Sompanya

Project Manager of REMNet

Molly Metz

Eugene Lang College, Class of 2020

 

Research Collaborators


Jeremy Seto

City College of Technology

Bhawani Venkataramen

The New School

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Antun Skanata

Syracuse University

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Monica trujillo

Queensborough College

Theresa Conefrey

Santa Clara University


 
 

Former Undergraduate and Graduate Research Students

Julie scott

Water Resources Science and Technology

Jonathan Castro

Jelanie Cisneros

 

Lauren Higa

Eugene Lang College & Parsons School of Design

Bart Piech

Eugene Lang College, Class of 2019

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leah hughes

Eugene Lang College & Parsons School of Design

Emma Letcher

Eugene Lang College, Class of 2019

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Simon chen

Eugene Lang College

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annabelle adams-beyea

Eugene Lang College

Alyssa Joines

Eugene Lang College & Parsons School of Design, Class of 2020

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Sydney Ha

Eugene Lang College & Parsons School of Design

Wes Thomason

Eugene Lang College

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MARCUS BANKS

MFA student at Parsons & New School Lab Manager

 
 

Janelly Eralte

Mercy College, Class of 2018

Natalie vegas

Mercy College, Class of 2019

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Bien Porconi

Mercy College

Natalia Tumidajski

Mercy College

 
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Kenny Tsang

New York City College of Technology

Fabiola Fontaine

New York City College of Technology

Manuela Hoyos

New York City College of Technology