Spring ’26 Featured Trainee:

Ashley Luo is a second-year Tufts Molecular Microbiology PhD candidate on the MERGE-ID (Medically-oriented Research in Graduate Education – Infectious Disease) Track studying bacteriophage-bacteria interactions in the lab of Levy CIMAR Core Faculty member Dr. Wai-Leung Ng. There is a growing interest in phage-based therapeutics for use in combination with or as alternatives to antibiotics to treat antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Phages are viruses that attack bacteria, meaning that they can prevent harmful effects of specific microorganisms in patients. Ashley is specifically interested how pathogens defend against phages and how phages evolve to develop counter defense mechanisms against these systems.

Ashley is currently working to understand how a phage protein inhibits the CBASS phage defense system found in many different bacteria. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind bacteriophage-bacteria interactions could contribute to designing and optimizing phage therapies.

As a first-generation undergraduate and now graduate student, Ashley's journey in science was not straightforward as she explored different areas before determining what interested her most. "I did a lot of exploration during my undergraduate years at Northeastern and was involved in projects in behavioral pharmacology at the Center for Drug Discovery to neurobiology at Harvard Medical School," she says. "I finally dipped my toes into microbiological research when I came across PhagePro, a startup founded by CIMAR's Dr. Andrew Camilli and his former trainee Dr. Minmin Yen during my junior year. This is where I first became aware of just how alarming the antibiotic resistance crisis was and how PhagePro was developing phage therapies to address it. It was also the first time I had ever heard of phages, and I was extremely fascinated by their relationship with their bacterial hosts." Like Dr. Ng, Dr. Camilli is a professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts as well as a core faculty member of the Levy CIMAR.

Although she is only in her second year at Tufts, Ashley already knows what she wants to do next. "I want to do a postdoctoral fellowship and then become a principal investigator of my own lab where I can continue to study the phage-bacteria evolutionary arms race," she says. "I definitely see myself involved in running pipeline programs to support underrepresented students including first-generation college students like me."

Outside of lab, Ashley is passionate about giving back and mentoring undergraduate students from underrepresented groups. Her own academic career was shaped in part by the NIH Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), and, she says, pipeline programs that help students gain experience in research remain important to her.

Additionally, Ashley is part of the SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science) e-board and on the annual Boston Bacterial Meeting's Organizing Committee. She was a Pathway to PhD TA in January, mentoring undergraduate students from UMass Boston.

In her free time, Ashley enjoys creative outlets such as "junk journaling," painting, and drawing. She loves going to concerts, fan conventions, and exploring new restaurants around Boston.