{"id":2842,"date":"2024-06-11T12:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T16:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microimm\/?post_type=ud_entry&#038;p=2842"},"modified":"2025-08-08T15:21:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T19:21:37","slug":"rita-tamayo-phd","status":"publish","type":"ud_entry","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microimm\/people\/rita-tamayo-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Rita Tamayo, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The goal of my laboratory\u2019s research is to determine how <em>Clostridioides difficile<\/em> colonizes the mammalian intestine, regulates the production of virulence factors, and transmits between hosts. Our current focus is on the mechanisms employed by <em>C. difficile<\/em> to generate a phenotypically heterogeneous population that is better able to adapt to environmental stresses. We are particularly interested in the contributions of intracellular signaling molecules (c-di-GMP, c-di-AMP) and phase variation to phenotypic heterogeneity, and how these mechanisms influence <em>C. difficile<\/em> virulence and disease outcome. Through our research, trainees in the lab gain expertise in bacterial genetics, molecular biology, second messenger signaling, protein biochemistry, animal models of disease, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2843,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"ud_division":[19,21],"class_list":["post-2842","ud_entry","type-ud_entry","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ud_division-microbial-interactions","ud_division-primary","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rita Tamayo, PhD - Microbiology and Immunology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microimm\/people\/rita-tamayo-phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rita Tamayo, PhD - Microbiology and Immunology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The goal of my laboratory\u2019s research is to determine how Clostridioides difficile colonizes the mammalian intestine, regulates the production of virulence factors, and transmits between hosts. Our current focus is on the mechanisms employed by C. difficile to generate a phenotypically heterogeneous population that is better able to adapt to environmental stresses. 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