Dr. Christine Schneider

Dr. Christine Schneider joined the Biology program at Carroll University in 2011. Prior to coming to Carroll she worked in both industry (Merck and Kimberly Clark) and in academia (UW Madison). Her research topics have varied over the years but have always included virology, microbiology, and/or cell biology. At Carroll, Dr. Schneider has worked to create a research track that is amenable to research with undergraduate students. As a virologist she turned her attention to viruses that infect bacteria (phage). Phage are interesting for a variety of reasons, and she designed research projects that have clinical relevance in today’s world. One project examines the global problem of antibiotic resistance and the role that phage may play in transmitting antibiotic resistance genes between bacterial species in environmental waterways. The other project focuses on identifying and characterizing phage that can infect and kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa is a bacterium that causes many hospital acquired infections, and multidrug resistant strains are on the rise. The bacterium is also a common pathogen in cystic fibrosis patients. By characterizing new phage that kill P. aeruginosa, they may identify phage that could be used in the future to treat infections by phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics. Dr. Schneider's research has created opportunities for students—she has mentored students either through BIO485 or the Pioneer Scholar and StaR Scholar programs. These students have presented their data at Celebrate Carroll, regional and national meetings and submitted manuscripts for publication. As an instructor, Dr. Schneider embraces technology as a tool to improve student learning and focus on developing conceptual learning skills in her students. She has served as a technology fellow for the department, and has chaired the Faculty Development committee which has now merged with the Faculty Technology committee to become the iTTASC committee. She continues to help facilitate training of faculty on new technologies to help facilitate deep and meaningful student learning.

• Medical College of Wisconsin, Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
• University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, M.S. in Biology and Microbiology
• University of Wisconsin Madison, B.S. in Biochemistry
• University of Wisconsin Madison, B.S. in Molecular Biology

Virology, microbiology, immunology, genetics and cell biology. My current research focuses on combating the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria using alternative therapies and by characterizing the mechanisms that mediate the spread of resistance genes in environmental waterways.

Publications

Schneider, C.L. Bacteriophage-Mediated Horizontal Gene Transfer: Transduction. 2017. In Bacteriophages. Biology, Technology, Therapy.  Springer publishing, New York City, NY.  https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-40598-8_4-1 

Zumwalde, N.A., Sharma, A., Xu, X., Ma, S., Schneider, CL., Romero-Masters, J.C., Hudson, A.W., Gendron-Fitzpatrick, A., Kenney, S.C., Gumperz, J.E.  Adoptively transferred Vγ9Vδ2 T cells show potent antitumor effects in a preclinical B cell lymphomagenesis model.  2017.  JCI Insight 2(13) pii: 93179.

Sturgill, E.R., Malouli, D, Hansen, S.G. , Burwitz, B.J., Seo, S., Schneider, C.L., Womack, J.L., Verweij, M.C., Ventura, A.B., Bhusari, A., Jeffries, K.M., Legasse, A.W., Axthelm, M.K., Hudson, A.W., Sacha, J.B., Picker, L.J., and Früh, K. Natural Killer Cell Evasion is Essential for Infection by Rhesus Cytomegalovirus. 2016. PLoS Path. 12(8):e1005868.

Heiss, BE*, and CL Schneider. Generation of expression constructs to identify ER retention motifs in the Human Herpesvirus 7 U20 protein. BIOS 2015 Dec: 85(4):176-184. *denotes undergraduate student.

Mellergaard M, Skovbakke SL, Schneider CL, Lauridsen F, Andresen L, Jensen H, Skov S. N-glycosylation of asparagine N8 regulates surface expression of MHC class I chain-related protein A (MICA) alleles dependent on threonine T24. J Biol Chem. 2014 May 28. pii: jbc.M114.573238.

Schneider, CL, Hudson, AW. The Human Herpesvirus-7 (HHV-7) U21 immunoevasin subverts NK-mediated Cytotoxicity through modulation of MICA and MICB.  PLoS pathog. 2011 Nov; 7(11):e1002362

Glosson NL, Gonyo P, May NA, Schneider CL, Ristow LC, Wang Q, Hudson AW. Insight into the mechanism of HHV-7 U21-mediated diversion of class I MHC molecules to lysosomes. J Biol Chem. 2010 Nov 19;285(47):37016-29.

Posters and Presentations

Uitenbroek, A., Finnel*, G.L., Munneke*, M.J., Schmude* R.M., and Schneider, C.L. Characterization of plasmids found in beta-lactamase resistant gene environmental E. coli isolates. 78th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. Mankato, MN, October 2018. Poster presentation.

Luengas*, D.J., Finnel*, G.L., Munneke*, M.J., Schmude* R.M., and Schneider, C.L. Characterization of plasmids containing the TEM beta-lactamase resistance gene found in environmental bacteria. 78th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. Mankato, MN, October 2018. Poster presentation.

Munneke, M*., Schneider, C.L. Comparison of Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia coli from Wastewater and Hospital Sewage.  Student branch ASM meeting. Milwaukee, WI May 2018. Oral presentation.

Munneke, M*., Schneider, C.L. Characterization of Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia coli Isolated from Hospital and Wastewater Sewage. 77th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. DePere WI, October 2017. Oral presentation.

Njoya, K*., Graham, E*., Hutchins, W., Schneider, C.L. Characterization of Bacteriophages that infect Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 77th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. DePere WI, October 2017. Oral presentation. *Awarded 2nd place for undergraduate oral presentations

Munneke, M*., Finnel, G*., Schmude, R*., Schneider, C.L. Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Escherichia coli Isolated From the Fox River and Sewage. Milwaukee-area Undergraduate Biological Research Conference 2017. Poster presentation.

Njoya, K*., Graham, E*., Schneider, C.L. Characterization of Bacteriophages that infect Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Milwaukee-area Undergraduate Biological Research Conference 2017. Poster presentation.

Schmude, RM.,* Schneider, C. Antibiotic resistance trends in Escherichia coli isolated from the Fox river, Pewaukee lake and sewage. 76^th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. Ames, IA October 2016.  Poster presentation.

Graham, E.,* Schneider, T. Characterization of bacteriophages that can infect Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Student branch ASM meeting. Milwaukee, WI May 2016. Oral presentation. Awarded 1st prize for undergraduate oral presentations. 

Finnel, G.,* Schneider, T. Characterizing antibiotic resistant bacteria isolated from local waterways. Student branch ASM meeting. Milwaukee, WI May 2016. Oral presentation.

Graham, E.,* Schneider, T. Characterization of bacteriophages that can infect Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 75^th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. La Crosse, WI October 2015. Oral presentation. Awarded 1^st prize for undergraduate oral presentations.

Finnel, G.,* Schneider, T. Characterizing antibiotic resistant bacteria isolated from local waterways. 75^th Annual Meeting of the North Central Branch of the ASM. La Crosse, WI October 2015. Poster presentation.

Schneider, CL, Heiss, BE*, and Hudson, AW. The ER-lumenal domain of Human Herpesvirus 7 U20 is sufficient for ER retention. ASM 2015, New Orleans, LS. *indicates undergraduate student.

Schneider, CL, Hudson, AW. Presentation: HHV-7 U21 is a multifunctional immunoevasin that disrupts the trafficking of NK activating ligands in addition to class I MHC. Betaherpesviruses satellite session at the 36^th annual International Herpesvirus Workshop 2010 conference, Salt Lake City, UT.

Schneider, CL, Hudson, AW. Presentation: The HHV-7 Immunoevasin U21 Directs ULBP1 to Lysosomes. 3^rd Annual Center for Human Immunology Symposium 2010, Milwaukee, WI. “Outstanding Abstract” awardee.

Schneider, CL, Hudson, AW. Poster: Characterization of the HHV-6B U20 open reading frame. 12^th annual International Cytomegalovirus/Betaherpesvirus workshop 2009, Boston, MA.

Schneider, CL, Hudson, AW. Presentation: Characterization of the HHV-6 and HHV-7 U20 open reading frames. International conference on HHV-6 & 7 2008, Baltimore, MD.

• ASC (2017-present)
• iTTASC (2016-2017) chair
• FDC (2014-2015) chair 2015
• Technology fellowship (2013)
• VA Institutional Biosafety Committee—community member since 2014

Honors

• Technology fellowship (2013)
• Title III pathways to success stipend. “Redesigning courses to deepen student learning” workshop (2013)

Awards

• Faculty Development grants (4 grants; 2015-present)
• Pioneer Scholar Grants for Student Faculty Research (3 grants; 2015 and 2017)
• STAR scholar grant for student-faculty research (2013)

I am a firm believer in learning by doing. I tend to structure my lectures in an interrupted fashion to allow time for us to break out into groups and work on conceptualizing the information we are studying. I also believe in providing visual aids in the form of animations and tutorials whenever possible to help students visualize microscopic processes.

I love learning which is why I became a scientist. I worked in research for more than 20 years and although I still love designing experiments to answer questions, my favorite place to be is in the classroom. For me, being a professor is one of the most rewarding careers I have had because I really feel like I am making a difference in the lives of my students. I enjoy trying to find new ways to help facilitate deep and meaningful learning in my students so that they can leave Carroll and be successful in whatever they choose to do.

For each class I teach there is a theme that ties the abstract content of the course to something tangible and relevant for students. For example, in microbiology we explore some of the newest data suggesting that changes to the bacterial community in our gut (microbiome) might be linked to a wide variety of human diseases like diabetes, allergies, and even autism. I also am constantly exploring new ideas in how to use technology to promote active learning.

Although I got my undergraduate degree from UW Madison, I chose to teach at Carroll because I want to get to know my students so that I can do my best to mentor them. The most important thing to me is to do what I can to prepare my students for the challenges they will face in their careers by improving their problem solving and critical thinking skills. Think of me as another mother who pushes you to do your best but is there to help support you if you fall short. And just like your mother, I love to hear how my “children” are doing once they leave Carroll either through social media posts, email, phone, or over coffee.