Prof Regina Cordy

Dr Regina Joice Cordy is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. Dr Cordy graduated with her B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2006, received her PhD from Harvard University in 2013, and conducted Postdoctoral Research at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Emory University. Her PhD work focused on the study of Plasmodium falciparum in human tissue using quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry-based labeling approaches to localize parasites with respect to host cells and tissue microvasculature. This work led to the identification of an enrichment site of sexual stage parasites in the hematopoietic system of the bone marrow. Her postdoctoral work at Harvard and Emory focused on computational analysis of large data sets, including the microbiome within a public health context and metabolome of malaria-infected hosts. Dr. Cordy’s current research focuses on investigating how fluctuations in blood metabolites and gut microbes affect malaria pathogenesis using a combination of computational, histological and in vitro approaches. In addition to her research on malaria pathogenesis, she dedicates some of her time to working on addressing social inequities in academic research, including serving on the NIH Director’s working group on changing the culture to end sexual harassment. Her family has a history of involvement in the Civil Rights movement in the USA and traces their ancestry to the transatlantic slave trade. One of her biggest sources of inspiration is her grandmother, Justina Williams, who worked for three decades as a research technician in the Genetics Department at North Carolina State University and was the first Black person hired at that institution above the level of a custodian.