Dr. Kevin Sanchez

CLASSES | EDUCATION | RESEARCH INTERESTS 

MEMBERSHIPS | PUBLICATIONS | PRESENTATIONS

Dr. Kevin Sanchez earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2016, before going on to pursue his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He completed his Ph.D. in the spring of 2022 and officially joined the faculty at Benedictine College in the summer of 2022. Dr. Sanchez has engaged with a number of different disciplines within biology and biochemistry across his scientific career, doing research in fields ranging from bacterial weapon systems to crab behavioral ecology. A trained molecular biologist and biochemist, his main focus is on the ESX-1 secretion system, a protein weapon system found in bacteria like M. tuberculosis that is used to survive the host immune system and continue to cause disease.

Classes

CHEM-1200/1201 General Chemistry I Lecture/Laboratory

CHEM-1210/1211 General Chemistry II Lecture/Laboratory

CHEM-3500/3501 Biochemistry I Lecture/Laboratory

CHEM-3510/3511 Biochemistry II Lecture/Laboratory

CHEM-4550/4551 Topics in Biochemistry Lecture/Laboratory

Education

Ph.D. – Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, May 2022

B.S. – Biological Sciences, Cum Laude, Marquette University, May 2016

Research Interests

My area of expertise is in bacterial weapons. Bacterial weapons are used to combat a whole host of enemies, ranging from human cells to even other bacterial cells. The weapon system that I am looking at is called the ESX-1 secretion system, a protein-based secretion system that is used by pathogenic mycobacteria (including M. tuberculosis) to survive in the host, even after being engulfed by host-cell macrophages. I use biochemical, molecular, and genetic techniques to study the protein-protein and DNA-protein interactions that undergird the mechanisms of action in this weapon system. In this way, we seek to better understand and characterize the functions of potential drug targets downstream.

Professional Memberships

American Chemical Society

Recent Publications

Sanchez KG, Ferrell MJ, Chirakos AE, Nicholson KR, Abramovitch RB, Champion MM, Champion PA. 2020. “EspM is a conserved transcription factor that regulates gene expression in response to the ESX-1 system.” mBio 11:e02807-19. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02807-19.

Bosserman, Rachel E., Tiffany T. Nguyen, Kevin G. Sanchez, Alexandra E. Chirakos, Micah J. Ferrell, Cristal R. Thompson, Matthew M. Champion, Robert B. Abramovitch, and Patricia A. Champion. “WhiB6 regulation of ESX-1 gene expression is controlled by a negative feedback loop in Mycobacterium marinum." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 50 (2017): E10772-E10781.

Forward Jr, Richard B., Kevin G. Sanchez, and Paul P. Riley. "Entrainment of the circadian rhythm in egg hatching of the crab Dyspanopeus sayi by chemical cues from ovigerous females." The Biological Bulletin 230, no. 1 (2016): 15-24.

Waite, Heidi R., Kevin G. Sanchez, and Richard B. Forward Jr. "Entrainment of the circadian rhythm in larval release of the crab Dyspanopeus sayi by temperature cycles." Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 50, no. 1 (2017): 41-54.

Presentations

EspM is a new regulator of mycobacterial virulence, Kevin G. Sanchez, Eck Colloquium of Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, September 2nd, 2020.

Discovery and characterization of a new regulator of the mycobacterial ESX-1 system, Kevin G. Sanchez, Micah J. Ferrell, Alexandra E. Chirakos, Kathleen R. Nicholson, Dr. Matthew M. Champion, Dr. Robert B. Abramovitch, Dr. Patricia A. Champion, Advanced Therapeutics and Diagnostics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, March 6th, 2020.

Discovery and characterization of a new regulator of the mycobacterial ESX-1 system, Kevin G. Sanchez, Eck Colloquium of Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, September 11th, 2019.

Discovery and Characterization of a new regulator of the mycobacterial ESX-1 system, Kevin Sanchez, Micah Ferrell, Alexandra Chirakos, Dr. Matthew Champion, Dr. Robert Abramovitch, Dr. Patricia Champion, Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, September 20-22nd, 2019.

Discovery and Characterization of a new regulator of the mycobacterial ESX-1 system, Kevin Sanchez, Micah Ferrell, Alexandra Chirakos, Dr. Matthew Champion, Dr. Robert Abramovitch, Dr. Patricia Champion, Gordon Research Conference, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, July 28 - August 2, 2019.

Discovery and characterization of a new regulator of the mycobacterial ESX-1 system, Kevin G. Sanchez, Micah J. Ferrell, Alexandra E. Chirakos, Kathleen R. Nicholson, Dr. Matthew M. Champion, Dr. Robert B. Abramovitch, Dr. Patricia A. Champion, COSE-JAM, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, December 13th, 2019.

Characterizing Transcriptional Regulation of Virulence in Mycobacterium marinum. Kevin G. Sanchez, Micah J. Ferrell, Matthew M. Champion, and Patricia A. Champion. Poster. 25th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, September 2018.

Identifying Regulators of the ESX-1 Secretion System in Mycobacterium marinum. Kevin G. Sanchez. Oral Presentation. Eck Institute for Global Health Colloquium, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, September 26th, 2018.

Characterizing Transcriptional Regulation of Virulence in Mycobacterium marinum. Kevin G. Sanchez. Oral Presentation. Chemistry-Biochemistry-Biology Interface Annual Symposium, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, May 15th, 2018.

Characterizing Transcriptional Regulation of Virulence in Mycobacterium marinum. Kevin G. Sanchez, Micah J. Ferrell, Matthew M. Champion, and Patricia A. Champion. Poster. COSE-JAM, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, December, 2018.

WhiB6 regulation of ESX-1 gene expression is controlled by a negative feedback loop in Mycobacterium marinum. Rachel E. Bosserman, Tiffany T. Nguyen, Kevin G. Sanchez, Alexandra E. Chirakos, Micah J. Ferrell, Cristal R. Thompson, Matthew M. Champion, Robert B. Abramovitch and Patricia A. Champion. Poster. 2017 COSE-JAM for Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Fellows, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, December 8th, 2017.

Characterizing Feedback Regulation of Virulence in Mycobacterium marinum. Kevin G. Sanchez. Eck Institute for Global Health Colloquium, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, November 11th, 2017.

WhiB6 regulation of ESX-1 gene expression is controlled by a negative feedback loop in Mycobacterium marinum. Rachel E. Bosserman, Tiffany T. Nguyen, Kevin G. Sanchez, Alexandra E. Chirakos, Micah J. Ferrell, Cristal R. Thompson, Matthew M. Champion, Robert B. Abramovitch and Patricia A. Champion. Poster. 24th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, August 25-27th, 2017.

WhiB6 regulation of ESX-1 gene expression is controlled by a negative feedback loop in Mycobacterium marinum. Rachel E. Bosserman, Tiffany T. Nguyen, Kevin G. Sanchez, Alexandra E. Chirakos, Micah J. Ferrell, Cristal R. Thompson, Matthew M. Champion, Robert B. Abramovitch and Patricia A. Champion. Poster. Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Meeting 2017, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, August 7-11th, 2017.

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