Caroline Attardo Genco is an American microbiologist and academic administrator. She is Arthur E. Spiller Professor in Genetics at

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in down ...

, and provost of

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

Life and career

Genco was born to Rita Galletti and Charles Attardo. She was the first member of her family to attend college, completing a B.S. in biology at

State University of New York at Fredonia The State University of New York at Fredonia (alternatively SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia State, or Fredonia) is a public university in Fredonia, New York. It is the westernmost member of the State University of New York. Founded in 1826, it is the six ...

in 1981, and then an M.S. in microbiology from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1984. She received her PhD, also at the University of Rochester, in 1987, studying ''

Neisseria gonorrhoeae ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae'', also known as ''gonococcus'' (singular) or ''gonococci'' (plural), is a species of Gram-negative diplococci bacteria first isolated by Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser, Albert Neisser in 1879. An obligate human pathog ...

'' antibiotic resistance. Following her graduate studies, Genco completed a post-doc at the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

. Then, in 1989, she was appointed to an assistant professor position at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

, before joining the faculty of

Morehouse School of Medicine Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is an independent and private historically-Black medical school in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally a part of Morehouse College, the school became independent in 1981. History MSM was established at the sugges ...

as an associate professor in 1991. From 1997 to 2015, Genco served as Professor of Medicine at the

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University School of Medicine (formally the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine) is the medical school of Boston University, a private university, private research university in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in ...

, where she researched the link between oral bacteria and heart diseases. In 2015, Genco joined the

as the Arthur E. Spiller Professor in Genetics and chair of the Department of Immunology. In 2019, she became vice provost for research. She succeeded Nadine Aubry as provost and senior vice president ''ad interim'' of Tufts University on January 1, 2022, and was appointed to those positions on a permanent basis on August 1, 2023.

Research

At Tufts, Genco's laboratory researches how the

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

and

innate immune system The innate immune system or nonspecific immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies in vertebrates (the other being the adaptive immune system). The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune s ...

influence inflammatory diseases. One specific research area of the lab is how mucosal pathogens work to evade macrophages/monocytes and the innate immune response in general. Genco's lab has recently progressed this work from ''in vitro'' human tissue culture to ''in vivo'' mouse models, and now human cohorts. Another research focus of Genco's group is how ''Neisseria'' bacteria regulate gene transcription, with a focus on how environmental factors influence these pathways. Specifically, the lab has uncovered some of the mechanisms by which

Fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

(ferric uptake regulator), a regulatory protein, affects the virulence of bacteria. Genco maintains a particular interest in antibiotic resistance and immune response to ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae'', and especially how these differ in male and female human hosts. Genco's laboratory was one of the first to examine

gonorrhea Gonorrhoea or gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Gonorrhea is spread through sexual c ...

in female patients, and how their typically asymptomatic infections differed from males' typically symptomatic ones. Further, in 2023, Genco co-chaired the 23rd annual International Pathogenic Neisseria Conference (IPNC).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Genco, Caroline Living people Year of birth missing (living people) State University of New York at Fredonia alumni University of Rochester alumni Morehouse School of Medicine faculty Emory University faculty Boston University School of Medicine faculty Tufts University School of Medicine faculty American women academics American academic administrators American women academic administrators 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists American microbiologists American women microbiologists