Faculty

Tejas Bouklas

Assistant Professor

B.S., Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NYM.S., Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Tejas.Bouklas@liu.edu

Description

Dr. Bouklas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, in the School of Health Professions and Nursing. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Stony Brook University and the Women in Science Engineering Program, and earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Microbiology and Immunology) from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She did a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases) at Stony Brook University before joining LIU-Post in 2016.

Dr. Bouklas investigates the persistence and resistance of fungal pathogens in immunocompromised hosts. During her doctorate, she established aging as a novel virulence factor in Cryptococcus neoformans, a pathogen that afflicts HIV+/AIDS patients. This has led to her work in Candida glabrata, which is notorious for causing infections in diabetic and elderly patients. Dr. Bouklas’ work has significantly contributed to the fields of microbiology and infectious diseases, and has been disseminated in several manuscripts and reviews, as well as presentations at national and international conferences. 

Specialties

Microbiology, Infectious diseases, Immunology, Antifungals

Publications

Selected publications are listed below. Student co-authors are underlined:

• Bouklas, T., Alonso-Crisostomo, L., Szekely, T., Diago-Navarro, E., Orner, E.P., Smith. K., Munshi, M.A., Balazsi, G., Del Poeta, M., Fries, B.C. 2017. Generational distribution of a Candida glabrata population: Resilient old cells prevail, while younger cells dominate in the vulnerable host. PLoS Pathogens 13(5):e1006355.
  
  
• Bouklas, T., Jain, N., Fries, B.C. 2017. Modulation of replicative life span in Cryptococcus neoformans: implications for virulence. Frontiers in Microbiology 8:98.
  
  
• Bouklas, T.*, Diago-Navarro, E.*, Wang, X., Fenster, M., Fries, B.C. 2016. Characterization of the virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans in an insect model. Virulence. 6(8):809-813. (*equal contribution)
  
  
• Jain, N., Bouklas, T., Gupta, A., Varshney, A.K., Orner, E., Fries, B.C. 2016. ALL2, a homologue of ALL1, contributes a distinct role in regulating pH homeostasis in the pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans. Infection and Immunity. 84(2):439-451. (Selected as Spotlight Article)
  
  
• Bouklas, T., Fries, B.C. 2015. Aging: An emergent phenotypic trait that contributes to the virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans. Future Microbiology. 10(2):191-7. (Featured Review and Cover Highlight)
  
  
• Bouklas, T., Fries, B.C. 2014. Aging as an emergent factor that contributes to phenotypic variation in C. neoformans. Fungal Genetics and Biology. 78:59-64.
  
  
• Bouklas, T., Pechuan, X., Goldman, D.L., Edelman, B., Bergman, A., Fries, B.C. 2013. Old Cryptococcus neoformans cells contribute to virulence in chronic cryptococcosis. mBio. 4(4):e00455-13. (Featured in Einstein magazine and on website)
  
  
• Bouklas, T., Fries, B.C. 2013. Cryptococcus neoformans constitutes an ideal model organism to unravel the contribution of cellular aging to the virulence of chronic infections. Current Opinion in Microbiology. 16(4):391-397.

Lectures and Presentations

Selected lectures and presentations are listed below.

• Newest kid on the block: Characterization of the novel multidrug-resistant pathogen, Candida auris. Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Phoenix, AZ. November 2017.
  
  
• Serial isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans demonstrate altered resilience to nutritional stress. Association of School of Allied Health Professions, San Antonio, TX. October 2017.
  
  
• Modulation of replicative life span in Cryptococcus neoformans: implications for virulence. International Conference on Cryptococcus and Cryptococcosis, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. March 2017.
  
  
• North Star Academy Career and College Day. M.S. 340, Brooklyn, NY. June 2017.
  
  
• Active Learning in the Classroom. Virtual Brown Bag, Teaching and Learning Center, Long Island University-Post, Brookville, NY. April 2017.
  
  
• The role of aging in a chronic fungal infection. Biomedical/Health Sciences Departmental Research Seminar, Long Island University-Post, Brookville, NY. October 2016.
  
  
• Implications of a heterogeneous age distribution for a Candida glabrata population. Workshop on Cellular Heterogeneity and Evolution, Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY. August 2016.
  
  
• Replicative Aging in the human pathogen Candida glabrata. American Society of Microbiology General Meeting, Boston, MA. May 2014.
  
  
• Consequences of SIR2 regulation on the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans. International Conference on Cryptococcus and Cryptococcosis, Amsterdam, Netherlands. May 2014.
  
  
• Investigations on replicative life span of Cryptococcus neoformans strains and the relevance of these findings for virulence. Congress of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology, Berlin, Germany. June 2012.
  
  
• In vitro and in vivo investigation of RLS of all1D null mutant in Cryptococcus neoformans. International Conference on Cryptococcus and Cryptococcosis, Charleston, SC. May 2011.
  
  
• Pertussis composite nanofibrous membranes as an acellular, transdermal whooping cough vaccine. Annual Biomedical Engineering Conference, St. Louis, MO. October 2008.
  
  
• In vitro evaluation of pertussis toxin composite nanofibers as a non-invasive whooping cough vaccine. Society of In Vitro Biology Meeting, Indianapolis, IN. June 2007.

Honors/Awards

• Judge Travel Award, Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. 2017.
  
  
• Nominated for Stony Brook 40 under Forty. 2017.
  
  
• American Society of Microbiology LINK Undergraduate Faculty Research Initiative Fellow. 2017.
  
  
• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory “Yeast Genetics and Genomics” Roll of Honor. 2012.
  
  
• NIH Predoctoral Training Grant, “HIV, AIDS and Opportunistic Infections” (T32 AI007501). 2011 - 2014.
  
  
• Sigma Xi Excellence in Research Award. 2009.
  
  
• Student Design and Research Award, Biomedical Engineering Society. 2008.
  
  
• Presidential Scholar, Stony Brook University. 2005 - 2009.
  
  
• IBM Thomas J. Watson Memorial Scholarship. 2005 - 2009.
  
  
• Women in Science and Engineering Scholar, Stony Brook University. 2005 - 2009.

Professional Affiliations