Alexandrea Duscher

Dr. Lexi Duscher headshot

aduscher@vt.edu

Dr. Lexi Duscher is originally from Minnesota and lived in Florida for 11 years before moving to the Virginia coast. She obtained her bachelor's in Marine Science with a focus on marine sponge disease at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. Dr. Duscher then attended graduate school at the Space Life Sciences Lab in Merritt Island, FL through the University of Florida where she studied a beneficial squid symbiosis (Vibrio fischeri and Euprymna scolopes) and innate immunity in a space-like environment. Her first postdoc position at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience was focused on the innate immune response in stem cell regeneration of a cnidarian model system, Hydractinia. Dr. Duscher's second postdoc, which transitioned to a Research Scientist position, was conducted at the Virginia Seafood AREC, working on cell-based meats under Dr. Ovissipour's FutureFoods Lab and Cellular Agriculture Initiative. Dr. Dscher left the VSAREC in 2022 but has maintained Affiliate Status. In her free time, she enjoys being outside at the beach, fishing, camping, and hiking.

Ph.D., Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, 2019

B.S., Marine Science, Eckerd College, 2013

B.A., Environmental Studies, Eckerd College, 2013

Dr. Lexi Duscher's current research focus:

Enhancing Cost-Effective and Efficient Nutrient Delivery in Fish Embryonic Stem Cell Culture Medium via Functional Bioactive Microcarriers

Vroom, M. M., Troncoso-Garcia, A., Duscher, A. A., & Foster, J. S. (2022). Modeled microgravity alters apoptotic gene expression and caspase activity in the squid-vibrio symbiosis. BMC microbiology, 22(1), 202.

Goswami, M., Belathur Shambhugowda, Y., Sathiyanarayanan, A., Pinto, N., Duscher, A., Ovissipour, R., ... & Chandragiri Nagarajarao, R. (2022). Cellular aquaculture: prospects and challenges. Micromachines, 13(6), 828.

Quiroga Artigas G., Duscher A.A., Lundquist K., Waletich J., and C. Schnitzler. (2020) Gene knockdown via electroporation of short hairpin RNAs in embryos of the marine hydroid Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus. Scientific Reports 10:12806.

Duscher A.A., Bishop, M.E., Conesa, A., Zubizarreta, S.D., J.S. Foster. (2018) Influence of modeled microgravity on the transcriptome of the mutualistic bacterium Vibrio fischeri. npj Microgravity 4(1): 25.

Louyakis A.S., Gourlé, H., Casaburi G., Bonjawo R.M.E., Duscher A.A., J. S. Foster. (2018) A year in the life of a thrombolite: comparative metatranscriptomics reveals dynamic metabolic changes over diel and seasonal cycles. Environmental Microbiology 20(2):842-861.

Casaburi, G., Goncharenko-Foster, I., Duscher A.A., and J.S. Foster. (2017) Transcriptomic Changes in an animal-bacterial symbiosis under modeled microgravity conditions. Scientific Reports 7:46318.

Casaburi, G., Duscher A.A., J.S. Foster. (2016) Characterization of the stromatolite microbiome from Little Darby Island, The Bahamas using predictive and whole shotgun metagenomic analysis. Environmental Microbiology 18: 1452-1469.