Maeve McLaughlin

She/They

I am transfemme, lesbian, and I am a molecular microbiologist.//

 

I am a molecular microbiologist that wants to understand how bacterial transcriptional networks impact molecular decision making and microbial fitness. Recently, I have started to examine how viruses that infect bacteria (i.e. bacteriophage) hijack and manipulate these transcriptional networks to control their hosts and enhance infection. I received my BS and PhD in Biology at Wayne State University, studying bacterial development, and my postdoctoral training at Michigan State University, studying bacterial and phage transcriptional networks. I recently started working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan–Flint.

I’m neurodivergent, and during my postdoc, I realized that I was a transfemme person and began transitioning. I was incredibly lucky to have mentors that fully supported me in my transition. Even with supportive colleagues, I often felt alone in academic spaces because there weren’t very many other trans folks around. Over the years though, I’ve been able to find and connect with queer folks in the scientific community. In the last few years, I’ve been really invested in building programs that promote the work of scientists from marginalized communities and create safe spaces for folks to connect with each other at conferences.