Dr. Marisa Pedulla, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences

Genetics Lecture; Genetics Laboratory; Molecular Biology Lecture; Molecular Biology Laboratory; Undergraduate Research; Biology Sophomore Seminar; Pathogenesis; Transgenic Animals; Virology; Extremophiles; Professional Development; Virology 2; Principles of Living Systems; Developmental Biology; Knowledge surveys in assessing biological education; Special Topics Genetics Laboratory (co-taught with Dr. Katie Hailer); HHMI SEA Phages Discovery Course; Cancer Biology; HHMI SEA Phages In silico genome annotation bioinformatics lab; Medical Microbiology; Graduate Bacterial Pathophysiology ; Graduate Principles of Pharmacology; Graduate Seminar Series Graduate Thesis Research; Graduate Technical Writing; Graduate Genomic Medicine; Graduate Human Reproductive Biology ;Graduate Principles and Practice of Human Pathology; Graduate Bacteriophages; Graduate Research Class: Phage Biol Teach I and II (co-taught with Rayelynn Brandl, continuing education for BRIC project teachers); Professional Test Preparation, Graduate Bacteriophage Genomes.

2013-present          Professor, Department of Biology, Montana Tech

2013-2014               Scientist in Residence, Helena High School

2008-2013               Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Montana Tech

2005-2008               Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Montana Tech

2001-2005               Coordinator, Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute

2005,2006               Director, University of Pittsburgh Teacher Training Workshops

2002-2007               Chief Editor, USJF Judo Magazine

Research Interests

Dr. Pedulla's laboratory focuses on the discovery and characterization of mycobacteriophages.

Research Expertise

Dr. Pedulla received her B.S. in Chemistry with a bioscience option at the University of Pittsburgh with coursework including studies in French and Japanese. She received her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Pittsburgh in the laboratory of Dr. Graham Hatfull. After a brief postdoctoral position at Washington State University, she ran the Phage Genomics facility at the Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute and co-developed a phage discovery program with Dr. Graham Hatfull. She brought phage discovery to teachers and students across Montana beginning as an assistant professor of Biology at Montana Tech in 2005. Over 13,000 students have participated in her phage discovery program., with more than 130 newly discovered phages entered into public databasesand >15 viral genomes annotated with teachers and students included as authors. She has been awarded several significant research grants, including two NIH SEPA grants in collaboration with CFWEP.org entitled "Bringing Research Into the Classroom,” and “Phages Helping Acquire Genuine Experiences in Science,” and recently an NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant to acquire a multifunctional transmission electron microscope with which to image the student-discovered phages.​

2022                 National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award

                          Administrative Supplement, part-time support for a Microscopy Technician      

                          $200,800

2022                 National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation

                          “MRI: Acquisition of Hitachi HT7800 Electron Microscope,”

                          $999,989

2021                 Montana INBRE Rapid Infrastructure

                          $7,416

2019                 National Institutes of Health, Science Education Partnership Award

                          “PHAGES: Phages Helping Acquire Genuine Experiences in Science,” (with CFWEP.org)

                          $1.3 Million

2014                 National Institutes of Health, Science Education Partnership Award

                          “BRIC: Bringing Research Into the Classroom, (with Rayelynn Connole)

                          $1.25 Million

2013                 National Science Foundation

                          EAGER Funding Mechanism“Nanoparticle-mediated increase in viral plaque formation,” (with Raj Kasinath and Katie Hailer)

                          $99,906

2010                 Montana Board of Research & Commercialization Technology

                          “Nanoparticle-Bacteriophage Cocktails to Combat Infectious Disease (with Raj Kasinath and Jovanka Voyich)

                          $113,050

2009                 M.J. Murdoch Charitable Trust Partners in Science (with Kate McElroy)

                          $15,000

2009-14           National Institutes of Health MT INBRE 4/9 Funded Research Salary

                          $500,000

2007                 Montana Tech Faculty Seed Grant

                          $5,000

2007                 Montana Gear Up Program (with Montana Tech Technical Outreach)

                          “Diggin’ The Future, A Summer Camp For GEAR UP Students”

                          $24,000

2006                 NIH-COBRE Center for Development of Immunotherapies to Zoonotic Diseases

                          “Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages That Infect Mycobacterial Species”

                          $11,000

• Annotated bacteriophage genomes in GenBank of Mycobacteriophages Tooj (accession no. OP820473), VRedHorse (accession no. OP867027), GigiOuiOui (accession no. OP297528) and Whatsapiecost (accession no. ON526976) (2022) Eradicator (accession no. MZ171378) (2021), Rope (accession no. MT684602) and Moonbeam (accession no. MT684593) (2020) Prickles (accession no. MN444868) and Tomaszewski (accession no. MN096364) (2019) Wamburgrxpress (accession no. MH744425) and HSavage (accession no. MH576954) (2018), Froghopper (accession no. MK112540) and Mr.Yolo (accession no. MH338239) (2017) Nimrod (accession no. MK433262) and DillTech15 (accession no. MH077578) (2016) OwlsT2W (accession no. MH051257) (2015) GageAP (accession no. MH020236), Oliver Walter (accession no. MG925356) and BigPaolini (accession no. MK112530) (2018), and KayaCho (accession no. KF024729) (2013)
• Hanauer, D.I. et al. (2017) An Inclusive Research-Education Community (iREC): A model for student engagement in Science, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1718188115.
• J. M. Andriolo; R. J. Rossi; C. A. McConnell; B. I. Connors; K. Trout; M. K. Hailer; M. L. Pedulla; J. L. Skinner, (2016) "Influence of iron-doped apatite nanoparticles on viral infection examined in bacterial versus algal systems," IEEE Transactions on NanoBioscience , 15: 908-916 DOI: 10.1109/TNB.2016.2619349
• Pope, W.H. et al. (2015) “Whole genome comparison of a large collection of mycobacteriophages reveals a continuum of bacteriophage genetic diversity” eLife DOI: 10.7554/eLife.06416.00
• Andriolo, JM, Hensleigh, RM, McConnell, CA, Pedulla, M, Hailer, K, Kasinath, R, Wyss, G, Gleason, W, and Skinner, JL, (2014) "Iron-Doped Apatite Nanoparticles for Improvement of Phage Therapy" Vac. Sci. Technol. B 32, 06FD01; http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4894460

2023          Montana Tech Distinguished Researcher Award

2023          Montana Tech Faculty Merit Award for Exceptional Achievement in Service and Scholarship

2022          Montana Tech College of Letters Science Professional Studies Faculty Community Engagement Award

2019          Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Dr. Pedulla is interested in:

Dr. Pedulla also has a competitive athletic background including the following:

1987-1990 Collegiate National Judo Championships, -114 lbs., First Place.

1991: Completed City of Pittsburgh Marathon.

1996, 1997 U.S. Senior National Judo Champion, -52kg.

US Olympic Committee Female Judo Athlete of the Year.

1996 Centennial Olympic Games, Women’s Judo, -52kg, Seventh Place. Pan American Judo Championships, -52kg, Third Place.

1997 US World Judo Championship Team Member.

2004, US Olympic Judo Team Assistant Coach.