Katherine A. Borkovich
Professor and Chair
Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology
University of California, Riverside
katherine.borkovich@ucr.edu
Biography
Katherine A. Borkovich is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology at UC Riverside. She was previously the Divisional Dean for Life Sciences in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UC Riverside. Dr. Borkovich moved her group to UC Riverside in 2001 following her tenure as an Associate Professor at the University of Texas-McGovern Medical School in Houston. Prior to that, she performed postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology and obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at UCLA and her B.S. in Biochemistry at UC Davis.
Dr. Borkovich has worked with microorganisms during her entire career. Her current research focuses on how multicellular (filamentous) fungi sense their environment and then fine-tune their gene expression to allow exploitation of different nutritional sources or to infect plant hosts. Her group pioneered study of heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) in filamentous fungi, using the model system Neurospora crassa. Dr. Borkovich has contributed to whole-genome information for filamentous fungi, including predictions of gene functions in N. crassa and plant-pathogenic species in the genus Fusarium, and creation of a genome-wide mutant library for N. crassa. Her group’s landmark publications have led to the discovery that G proteins regulate pathogenesis, toxin production and secondary metabolism in numerous animal and plant fungal pathogens. Dr. Borkovich has received funding for her research from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She has served as editor or lead author for major books and papers focused on the genomics and cell biology of filamentous fungi.
Dr. Borkovich was instrumental in establishment of the Microbiology undergraduate major and reinstatement of the Microbiology graduate program at UC Riverside. She was recognized with the 2016 UC Riverside Campus Distinguished Teaching Award for her teaching of a research-based course for the Microbiology major, Experimental Microbiology (MCBL125).
Dr. Borkovich was the faculty director of the UCR Campus COVID Testing Laboratory during the SARS-Co-V2 Pandemic and received the 2021 UC Riverside Campus Distinguished Service Award in part for her leadership of the testing effort. Dr. Borkovich is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Current Laboratory Personnel
Monique Quinn, M.S., Ph.D. Student in the Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology Program
May Campbell, Ph.D. Student in the Plant Pathology Program
Charlotte Foulk, Undergraduate Student
Samaya Bhukhan, Undergraduate Student
Former Laboratory Personnel
Graduate Students
Roberto Silver, M.S., Graduate Student in the Microbiology Program
Yagna Oza, M.S., Ph.D. Student in the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Program
Alexander Carrillo, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Microbiology Program
Logan Collier, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program
Rubab Sheikh, M.S., Graduate Student in the Microbiology Program
Arit Ghosh, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Program
Ilva Cabrera, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Program
Alexander Michkov, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Program
Patrick Schacht, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Program
Susan Won, M.S. Student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program
James Kim, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology Program
Carol Jones, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program
Sara Wright, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program
Liande Li, Ph.D., Graduate Student in the Plant Pathology Program
Jennifer Bieszke, Ph.D., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston
Ann Kays, Ph.D., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston
Qi Yang, Ph.D., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston
F. Douglas Ivey, Ph.D., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston
Xiaohui Lu, M.S., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston
Postdoctoral Fellows
Gyungsoon Park, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Shouqiang Ouyang, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Jacqueline Servin, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Asharie Campbell, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Carla Eaton, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Svetlana Krystofova, Postdoctoral Fellow
Hyeojeong Kim, Postdoctoral Fellow
Marek Nemcovic, Postdoctoral Fellow
Undergraduate Students (Does not include Summer Program Students)
Sriram Vasireddy, Undergraduate Student
Alec Wrightson, Undergraduate Student
Isabella Militchin, Undergraduate Student
Abel Vargas, Undergraduate Student
Elijah Lewis, Undergraduate Student
Lida Halilovic, Undergraduate Student
Berenise Lopez-Lopez, Undergraduate Student
Chathushya Keerthisinghe, Undergraduate Student
Matthew Guevara, Undergraduate Student
Briana Cabrera, Undergraduate Student
Carlos Gutierrez, Undergraduate Student
Yesenia Rodezno, Undergraduate Student
Fernando Olvera, Undergraduate Student
Anar Alsunna, Undergraduate Student
Victoria Joubi, Undergraduate Student
Lisa Louie, Undergraduate Student
Caleb Hubbard, Undergraduate Student
Johnathon Blahut, Undergraduate Student
Nayeli Guerrero, Undergraduate Student
Andrew Lim, Undergraduate Student
Antonia Adeniji, Undergraduate Student
Fitz-Gerald Diala, Undergraduate Student
Nathan Irvin, Undergraduate Student
Christopher Crew, Undergraduate Student
Catrina Romero, Undergraduate Student
Farah Firtha, Undergraduate Student
Michelle Brown, Undergraduate Student
Eunicia Reburiano, Undergraduate Student
Quỳnh Vu, Undergraduate Student
Caleb Jones, Undergraduate Student
Rosa Medina, Undergraduate Student
Sandra Torres, Undergraduate Student
Luis Zavalza, Undergraduate Student
Maria Oviedo, Undergraduate Student
Dhara Patel, Undergraduate Student
Rozanne Sebeny, Undergraduate Student
Itallia Pacentine, Undergraduate Student
Justin Durancik, Undergraduate Student