People

Meet the Principal Investigator

Neal M. Alto, Ph.D.

Neal M. Alto, Ph.D.

Rita C. and William P. Clements, Jr. Scholar in Medical Research

Professor, Department of Microbiology

Dr. Alto received his B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. After working at the University of Utah for two years, he began graduate school at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland Oregon. As a student in the laboratory of John Scott, Ph.D., he studied how a class of cellular anchoring proteins called AKAPs organizes kinase-based signal transduction cascades in both space and time. This work has led to a greater understanding of cellular communication systems that control brain and body functions.

Following graduate school, Dr. Alto began a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Jack E. Dixon Ph.D., at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). There, he became interested in how bacterial pathogens hijack eukaryotic cell signaling enzymes. His work in the Dixon lab focused on a family of Type 3 Secretion System (T3SS) effector proteins that regulated Rho-family GTPase and actin cytoskeleton architecture. 

As a faculty member at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dr. Alto continues to expand his scientific program to study the intersection between microbial pathogenesis and human cell biology. His laboratory has adopted modern techniques in molecular biology, microscopy, systems biology, high-throughput screening, and biophysics to explore new and interesting scientific frontiers.

Current Lab Members

Laura Alto, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
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Laura Alto, Ph.D.

Lishu Zhang, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
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Lishu Zhang, Ph.D.

Didi Chen, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
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Didi Chen, Ph.D.

Maarten De Jong, Ph.D.

Maarten De Jong, Ph.D.

David Heisler, Ph.D.

David Heisler, Ph.D.

Wesley Burford

Wesley Burford

Aaron Embry

Graduate Student
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Aaron Embry

Duo Ma

Graduate Student
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Duo Ma

Benjamin Kocsis

Research Technician
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Benjamin Kocsis

Lab Alumni

    • Robert Orchard, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow at Washington University St Louis (WUStL), Lab of Dr. Herbert (Skip) Virgin
    • Andrey Selyunin, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Texas at Austin, Lab of Dr. Som Mukhopadhyay
    • Thomas Fox, M.D. – Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Indiana University School of Medicine
    • Bethany Weigele, Ph.D. – University Innovation Fellow at Arizona State University
    • Nikolay Burnaevskiy, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Washington
    • Lovett Evan Reddick, PhD. -  Oncology Medical Science Liaison with AstraZeneca
    • Adam Wallenfang, M.S. – Biological Research Associate and Analytical Chemist
    • Sarah Sutton – Lab Manager at Texas Health Presbyterian
    • Patrick Woida – Graduate Student, Northwestern University