Meet Lisa Marie Nisbett - A biochemist from St Kitts currently Postdoctoral Scholar in Stony Brook Uni

A biochemist, originally from St Kitts and Nevis is gaining popularity as she started her Postdoctoral Scholar at Stony Brook University, New York. D. Lisa-Marie Nisbett is now an inspiration for many students who wish to pursue their careers in bio-chemistry.

Nisbett completed her B.S and M.S in Biology from the LIU Post Campus of Long Island University in 2009 and 2012 respectively. She then completed a Ph.D in Biochemistry and Structural Biology from Stony Brook University in 2018 under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Boon.

Her dissertation work concentrated on the biochemical definition of a novel nitric oxide-sensing domain, NosP, in two bacterial systems. Through this work, she showed the involvement of NosP in cyclic-di-GMP signaling paths and biofilm build in Shewanella oneidensis and Burkholderia thailandensis.

Currently, Dr Nisbett is a NIH IRACDA NY-CAPS Postdoctoral Scholar in the laboratory of Dr Jessica Seeliger at Stony Brook University. Her research is focused on probing the functional relationship between cell envelope biogenesis and lipid export pathways in mycobacteria.

Specifically, Dr. Nisbett is working to elucidate the role of the lipoprotein LprG in transporting lipids to the exterior layer of mycobacteria, known as the mycomembrane, which functions as a well armored, critical barrier that protects mycobacteria from various assaults such as antibiotics.

Dr. Nisbett’s goal is to become an independent academic researcher who investigates clinically relevant, understudied pathogenic bacteria. She is interested in developing a comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis by characterizing bacterial signaling pathways that are implicated in pathogenesis. Dr. Nisbett will be on the academic tenure-track job market in the next couple of years.