Mary-Kate Key

Mary-Kate received her B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she researched host pathogen interactions in staphylococcal osteomyelitis. She joined Emory in 2024 to pursue her Ph.D. in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis under the mentorship of Dr. David Weiss. Her work explores undefined relationships between host physiology and antibiotic heteroresistant bacteria. She utilizes clinical isolates and novel in vitro modeling approaches to investigate how host factors impact antibiotic therapy and can be used to predict patient outcomes. The overall goal of her thesis work is to inform optimized therapeutic approaches for heteroresistant bacterial infections and improve treatment outcomes.