• “Quantifying Equol-Producing and Beta-Glucuronidating Gut Bacteria in Breast Cancer Using 16S rDNA Sequencing Methods,” presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology 2026 Annual Meeting, June 2026 [ASCO].
• “Exploring Diversity and Composition of Sulfidogenic Gut Bacteria in Breast Cancer,” American Society for Clinical Oncology 2026 Annual Meeting, June 2026 [ASCO].
• “Fecal Bile Acid and Gut Archaea Profiles in Diverticulosis,” Digestive Disease Week, May 2026 [DDW].
• “Network Analysis Reveals Relationships Between Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, Gut Micrboial Diversity, Diet, and Sex Steroids,” Digestive Disease Week, May 2026 [DDW].
• “Desulfovibrio and Bilophila Relative Abundance is High in Women with Diverticulosis,” Digestive Disease Week, May 2026 [DDW].

Engineering Bifidobacterium for Use in Cancer Therapy
Postdoctoral Research (2024-2026)
University of Chicago

My research under the joint guidance of Dr. Ralph Weichselbaum and Dr. Mark Mimee pivoted back towards microbial-based cancer therapies, focusing on engineering Bifidobacterium for use in cancer therapy and drug delivery, specifically to alter the immune/metabolic landscape in the tumor microenvironment and ultimately improve anti-tumor responses. My work further examined dosing regimens and combination therapy in an in vivo orthotopic pancreatic cancer model. Additionally, I am also interested in how resident microbes in the human body influence cancer development and response to therapy.

The Gut Microbiome & Breast Cancer: Implications for Steroid Hormones
Graduate Research (2021-2023)
University of Illinois Chicago

My graduate work under Dr. Ece Mutlu aimed to characterize the impact of the fecal bacterial microbiome and fecal sex hormones on circulating sex hormones in postmenopausal women with breast cancer through the use of hormone quantification, hormone receptor stimulation assays, and 16S rDNA sequencing and analysis. Additionally, we examined the contribution of microbial deconjugation activity (glucuronidases and sulfatases) to circulating estrogens. I also had the opportunity to work on other projects analyzing gut microbiome sampling methods and the effects of dietary intakes on the gut microbiome in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

• Nowicki, C., Ray, L., Engen, P., Madrigrano, A., Witt, T., Lad, T., Cobleigh, M., & Mutlu, E. (2023). Examining Gut Microbiome Sampling Methods Through ASV-based Analysis of Colonic Biopsies, At-Home and Endoscopically-Collected Stool. Frontiers in Microbiology. [Frontiers]

• “Archaeal and Methogen Abundance for African-Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites With and Without Adenomatous Polyps,” Digestive Disease Week, May 2025 [DDW].
• “Gut Archaeal Abundance is Impacted by Intake Level of Dietary Nutrients,” Nutrition 2024, July 2024. [CDN]
• “Fecal Methanobrevibacter smithii Abundance in Diverticulosis,” Digestive Disease Week 2024, June 2024.
• “Haloarchaea Abundance in Diverticulosis,” Digestive Disease Week 2024, June 2024. [DDW]
• “A Longitudinal Analysis of the Human Fecal and Mucosal Microbiome,” Rush University Trainee Research Day, March 2023.
• “Associations of Dietary Factors and Methanogenic Archaeal Abundance with the Presence and Extend of Diverticulosis in the Human Gut,” Rush University Trainee Research Day, March 2023.
• “Exploring a Role for the Gut Microbiome in Determining Estrogen and Androgen Levels in Breast Cancer,” UIC Fall 2022 Honors Research Symposium, November 2022.
• “Multiomic Approach to Examining Gut Microbiome Sampling Methods in Breast Cancer and Control Subjects,” 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, June 2022. [ASCO]
• “Comparison of Sampling Methods for Examining the Gut Microbiome in Breast Cancer and Control Subjects,” Annual Rush Research Expo, November 2021.

Microbial-Based Cancer Therapy
Graduate Research (2018-2021)
Rush University

My project with Dr. Andrew Zloza examined the immunological and metabolic mechanisms underlying anti-tumor responses seen after intratumoral treatment with Listeria species in an in vivo murine model of melanoma. This work primarily used flow cytometry and seahorse metabolic assays to assess immunological and metabolic effects.

• Gupta, K., Nowicki, C., Giurini, E., Marzo, A., Zloza, A. (2021). Bacterial-Based Cancer Therapy: Recent Advances, Current Challenges, and Future Prospects for Cancer Immunotherapy. Vaccines. [PubMed]
• Newman, J., Chesson, B., Herzog, N., Bommareddy, P., Aspromonte, S., Pepe, R., Estupian, R., Aboelatta, M., Giurini, E., Gupta, K., Guevara-Aleman, G., Rossi, M., Nowicki, C., et al. (2020). Intratumoral Injection of the Seasonal Flu Shot Converts Immunologically Cold Tumors to Hot and Serves as Immunotherapy for Cancer. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(2), 1119-28. [PubMed]

• “Anti-Bacterial Immune Responses to Break Immune Tolerance and Eliminate Cancer,” 37^th Annual Rush University Forum for Research and Clinical Investigation, March 2020.

Anti-Microbial Dental Treatments for Dogs
Post-Undergraduate Research (2016-2018)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

While working as a Veterinary Research Specialist at UIUC’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, I performed research comparing bacterial growth after various anti-microbial dental treatments using an in vitro plaque model to simulate biofilms in the canine oral microenvironment. This work used traditional culturing techniques in addition to optimizing a specialized plaque model with three bacterial pathogens common in the canine oral microbiome (Neisseria, Actinomyces, and Porphymonas).

• Kling, K., Maddox, C., Marretta, M., Nowicki, C., Schaeffer, D. (2021). Effect of TrisEDTA and Chlorhexidine 0.12% on an In Vitro Defined Biofilm Representing the Subgingival Plaque Biofilm of the Dog. Journal of Veterinary Dentistry. [PubMed]