University of Pittsburgh

Vaughn S Cooper, PhD

Professor





	
	


			

		Dr. Vaughn Cooper	
		

		

	
Contact

    		

		vaughn.cooper@pitt.edu	
		

		
			

		412-624-1265	
		

		
	
	
			

		Fax: 
		412-624-1401	
		

	    

    
    
   
    
   
    
    		

		
425 Bridgeside Point 2
450 Technology Drive
	
		

	    
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
    
	
	
	
			

		Pittsburgh, PA 15219	
		

		
		
	



	
Education
	
	

	
PhD in Zoology/Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Michigan State University, 2000
AB magna cum laude, Biology, Amherst College, 1994
        

              
   
  
 
 	
Research Summary
	
	

	
The mission of the Cooper laboratory is to translate evolutionary biology to improve human health, empower K-12 education, and reveal the origins of biodiversity. Specifically, we study the evolution, ecology, and genome dynamics of experimental and clinical microbial populations. The following questions motivate our work.
 
     
  1. How do microbes adaptively evolve      when colonizing eukaryotic hosts or exposed to antimicrobial compounds?      Can we predict these dynamics and identify driver mechanisms to guide      therapy?
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  2. How do bacteria evolve and form      communities within biofilms, especially within infections? 
    3.  
  3. How does host immunity influence      the evolution of antibiotic resistance?  
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  4. How      does resistance to immunotherapy evolve?
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  5. Why do genome regions replicated at      different times evolve at different rates?
  6. Evolution is best taught by hands-on experimentation. How do we deliver this on a massive scale?
Click here for a full listing of publications
	
	




  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 
 
   
   
















        









	
Research Lab Affiliation
	
	

	Cooper Lab	
	













	
Publications
	
	

	
Santos-Lopez A, Marshall CW, Scribner MR, Snyder DJ and Cooper VS. 2019. Evolutionary pathways to antibiotic resistance are dependent upon environmental structure and bacterial lifestyle. Elife. 8: pii: e47612.  |  View Abstract
Cooper VS, Warren TM, Matela AM, et al. 2019. EvolvingSTEM: a microbial evolution-in-action curriculum that enhances learning of evolutionary biology and biotechnology. Evo Edu Outreach. 12, doi:10.1186/s12052-019-0103-4 |  View Abstract
Dillon MM, Sung W, Lynch M and Cooper VS. 2018. Periodic Variation of Mutation Rates in Bacterial Genomes Associated with Replication Timing. MBio: 9: pii: e01371-18.  |  View Abstract
Silva, IN, Santos PM, Santos MR, Zlosnik JEA, Speert DP, Buskirk SW, Bruger EL, Waters CM, Cooper VS, LM Moreira. 2016. Long-Term Evolution of Burkholderia multivorans During a Chronic Cystic Fibrosis Infection Reveals Shifting Forces of Selection. mSystems. 1: pii: e00029-16. |  View Abstract
Traverse CC, Mayo-Smith LM, Poltak SR and Cooper VS. 2013. Tangled bank of experimentally evolved Burkholderia biofilms reflects selection during chronic infections. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 110: E250-E259. |  View Abstract