Current Personnel

Elisabeth Cole, MD, MS
Clinical Fellow, Newborn Medicine
- Email: elisabethcole@wustl.edu
Elizabeth (Bis) Cole received her MD degree at Tulane University, then completed her Pediatrics residency and a Nephrology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She joined the Hunstad lab in 2022 for the research portion of her current Neonatology fellowship.

Christina Collins, BS
Research Specialist
- Email: christinacollins@wustl.edu
Christina Collins joined the Hunstad lab as lead technician and laboratory manager in April 2017.

Nicole Gilbert, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
- Email: gilbert@wustl.edu
Nicole Gilbert completed her postdoctoral training with Amanda Lewis, PhD, in our Department of Molecular Microbiology and was an instructor in OB/Gyn before her arrival in Pediatrics. Her work on the interplay among vaginal microbiota, bacterial vaginosis, and UTIs is supported by multiple NIH grants.

Teri Hreha, PhD
Staff Scientist
- Email: hrehat@wustl.edu
Teri Hreha joined the Hunstad lab in August 2016, having completed her thesis work in the laboratory of Blanca Barquera, PhD, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. She is investigating cellular and molecular determinants of renal abscess formation and fibrosis.

Rachel Jin
Undergraduate student
- Email: racheljin@wustl.edu
Rachel is from the Seattle area and is a senior biology major at Washington University.

Hunter Kuhn, BS
Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
- Email: h.kuhn@wustl.edu
Hunter Kuhn earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Central Florida. He is working on the activity of UPEC alpha-hemolysin in the kidney during pyelonephritis.

Robert Potter, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Email: rfpotter@wustl.edu
Robert earned his PhD in the laboratory of Gautam Dantas, PhD, and completed a fellowship in Medical and Public Health Microbiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital prior to joining the Hunstad lab in 2022. He is interrogating the pan-genome and uropathogenesis of Proteus species.

Rebekkah Smither, BS
Senior Research Technician
Rebekkah joined the Hunstad lab in 2023. She has a BS in Biochemistry from UC-Santa Barbara and worked previously at Elemental Enzymes and St. Louis University.