Welcome to the Yu laboratory @USF!

Lab News

April 2024: We're extremely excited to welcome postdoctoral fellow Dipanwita (Dipa) Bhattacharya and undergraduate student Quinn Conde to join the lab!

Feb. 2024: Dr. Yu served as session chair at the 3rd International Virtual Conference on Staphylococcal Infections (STAPH-24)

Jan. 2024: We're extremely excited to welcome María Fernanda Cubero as a new PhD student starting in Spring '24!

Dec. 2023: Check out our preprint on the Dynamic Nature of Staphylococcus aureus Type I Signal Peptidases.
Nov. 2023:  
Check out our recent editorials: Why Early Career Scientists Should Publish in Society Journals & The Inaugural mBio Junior Editorial Board - Lessons Learned and the Path Forward Toward Improving the Peer Review Process

Oct. 13, 2023: Yaosheng, Ran and Sal were selected for oral presentations in 2023 Annual Meeting of
American Society for Microbiology Florida Branch. Ran was awarded with the outstanding
oral presentation award for the First Place among all Graduate Presentations! Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to Ran!

Oct. 2023: Our chapter "Tracking Cell Wall-Anchored Proteins in Gram-Positive Bacteria" was published in the book The Bacterial Cell Wall, part of the Methods in Molecular Biology series. Congratulations, Sal!

Aug. 2023: We're extremely excited to welcome Saidiburkhaniddin (Burkhan) Adikhanov to join our lab as a new PhD student starting in Fall 2023!

Feb. 2023: Dr. Yu has been invited as a speaker at STAPH-23, an international virtual conference with many experts on Staphylococcal biology and infections. 

Jan. 2023: Yu Lab Spring Party!

Nov. 2022: Dr. Yu served as an Early Career Reviewer in a NIH study section

Sept. 2022: Excellent news! We're extremely excited that Dr. Yu has received the NIH/NIGMS R35 award!

Aug. 2022: Yu Lab Fall Party!

July 18, 2022: We're extremely excited to welcome Yaosheng Jia as a new PhD student in the Fall 2022!

July 1, 2022: Dr. Yu has been invited to speak at the 4th bacterial cell biologi conference taking place 12 Feb 2023 to 15 Feb 2023 in Cancun, Mexico. 

June 20, 2022: Salvatore Scaffidi has been awarded the 2022 USF Outstanding TA Award! Congratulations, Sal!

Jan. 2022: We're extremely excited that Salvatore Scaffidi has been promoted to PhD student!

Nov. 10, 2021: We're extremely excited that Ran Zhang has been accepted as a PhD student! Congratulations, Ran!

Oct. 6, 2021: We're extremely excited to announce that Dr. Yu has been selected as one of the first ever members of the mBio® Junior Editorial Board of the American Society for Microbiology

April 30, 2021: Our research paper "Spatial regulation of Protein A in Staphylococcus aureus" was accepted for publication in Mol Microbiol. Congratulations Ran, Mac, and Sal!

April 11, 2021: Salvatore Scaffidi wins the poster award for outstanding quality of research and presentation at the 2021 USF Graduate Student Research Symposium. Congratulations, Sal!

March 9, 2021: Our protocol paper "Tracking the subcellular localization of surface proteins in Staphylococcus aureus by immunofluorescence microscopy" was accepted for publication in Bio-Protocol. Congratulations Sal and Mac!

Jan. 2021: The Yu lab is extremely excited to welcome Salvatore Scaffidi as the first Master's student! #Yu Lab Milestone#

1. grow bacteria in the lab: We are keen on exploring and discovering the fascinating biological features of bacterial life;
2. "grow" young scientists in the lab: We are enthusiastic about training and preparing young students for professional careers; 
3. have fun doing 1. and 2.!

To achieve our goals, we are focusing on performing cutting edge research projects and providing rigorous training programs. The research in the Yu lab studies the biology of bacterial cell envelope in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Broadly, we are interested in understanding (a) the dynamics of cell envelope assembly during bacterial growth and cell division, and (b) functions of cell envelope dynamics in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis. To address the research questions, we use a variety of experimental approaches such as genetics, microscopy, biochemistry as well as animal models. Currently we are investigating the secretion and localization of surface proteins in S. aureus. Please see “Research” page for details.