{"id":13495,"date":"2026-03-18T09:10:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13495"},"modified":"2026-03-18T09:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:10:56","slug":"uwm-student-taps-into-her-love-of-bugs-to-fight-antibiotic-resistant-organisms","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uwm-student-taps-into-her-love-of-bugs-to-fight-antibiotic-resistant-organisms\/","title":{"rendered":"UWM student taps into her love of bugs to fight antibiotic-resistant organisms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Photo:<\/a>
Kieyarrah Dennis works in the lab at UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences. Her research is focused on antibiotic-resistant organisms, with the goal of helping the medical field better equip people to survive bacterial infections. (UWM Photo\/Andy Manis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kieyarrah Dennis can wear a lot of hats. In fact, versatility has shaped her personal and academic pursuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her adaptability blossomed during her elementary years at a community-focused bilingual school in Milwaukee. Later, it drove her to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in biochemistry and history as an undergraduate student at the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew that biochemistry was a broad enough scientific track that I could use it as a foundation to do anything,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I want to do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Dennis joined the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\u2019s School of Freshwater Sciences<\/a> as a PhD student \u2014 propelled by a love of water and bugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She now specializes in expanding our understanding of antibiotic-resistant organisms so that the field of medicine can better equip people to survive bacterial infections. Her research advocates for more diverse treatments against the pathogens we are exposed to in our water systems and other public spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken antibiotics,\u201d Dennis said, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t think about the fact that treatments could or could not work based on what organism you\u2019re sick with and whatever resistance mechanisms they pick up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following \u2018creepy crawlers\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dennis\u2019 biochemistry studies for her bachelor\u2019s degree planted the seeds for her work as a grad student today. \u201cI was just thinking about parasites,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in creepy crawlers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charged with writing a mock proposal for research, her capstone explored the development of a vaccine against a disease spread by freshwater parasites. The process introduced Dennis to disease transmission routes, dynamic food chains and freshwater environments, including public parks and green spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis was fascinated and hooked, and she started as a freshwater sciences grad student at UWM less than a month after graduation. \u201cI drove home, rested for maybe eight days, then started here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probing antibiotic resistance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Over the past four years, Dennis has plunged into the complexities of how certain pathogens \u2014 such as E. coli, which is prevalent in bodies of freshwater and beyond \u2014 evolve and adapt to resist antibiotic treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issues of antibiotic resistance and multidrug-resistant organisms have grown significantly since the 1980s, which has prompted concern and significant funding to prevent a future where antibiotics no longer work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Dennis, some days her research looks like microscopic sequencing of gene families in the lab. Other days, it requires donning her history hat, while contemplating anthropology, sociology and other disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t solve this issue when you only look at a slice of where it occurs,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s out in the community. It\u2019s in the hospitals. It\u2019s in our food chain. It\u2019s in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridging science and neighborhoods<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With her lab hat on, Dennis immerses herself in the detailed genetics and mutation patterns of these microorganisms, as well as the freshwater environments that drive the evolution of the pathogens. Her findings will help develop new solutions to protect us from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, though, she also discovered a love for public health. She hopes to educate communities about these issues in our world, bringing the science to everyday people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s usually a disconnect between the people doing the actual research and the people doing advocacy or the application of research,\u201d she said. \u201cI would like to do both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by Tree Meinch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-student-taps-into-her-love-of-bugs-to-fight-antibiotic-resistant-organisms\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kieyarrah Dennis can wear a lot of hats. In fact, versatility has shaped her personal and academic pursuits. Her adaptability blossomed during her elementary years at a community-focused bilingual school in Milwaukee. Later, it drove her to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in biochemistry and history as an undergraduate student at the College of Saint Benedict […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[107],"story_category":[146],"class_list":["post-13495","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-milwaukee","story_category-research-innovation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13495"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}