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Faculty

Faculty180 – Vita and Individual Profile Data Sheet

Traci L Testerman, PhD ,BS

Fall 1980 - Fall 2120

Human Genetics and Genomics Department

TraciTesterman@scuhs.edu

Current Position

Position: Adjunct Faculty

Biography

Dr. Testerman was interested in biology from a young age. Her interest in microbiology began when she struggled to treat fish diseases while working at a pet shop during high school. This led to her first research project. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Testerman worked at 3M Pharmaceuticals developing an immunomodulator for treatment of certain viral diseases and cancers. She then attended graduate school at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (now the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus) where she earned a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology researching Salmonella pathogenesisShe later investigated the roles of Helicobacter pylori and other Helicobacter species in diverse diseases including gastritis, inflammatory bowel disease, gastric and colon cancers, atherosclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. She also studied the role of a broccoli-derived compound on colitis and the microbiome. After H. pylori was found in a rare appendiceal cancer, Dr. Testerman collaborated with surgeons and other researchers to determine how H. pylori and other bacterial species influence this cancer. Dr. Testerman loves sharing her passion for science with others. She believes that everyone can benefit from learning how the natural world works. After all, we are biological creatures and can make better decisions when we understand how our bodies work and how we are affected by the world around us- including microorganisms living within us. When not working, Dr. Testerman enjoys home improvement projects, cooking, and playing with her dogs, horses, and donkey.

Degrees

1999

Ph.D., Microbiology and Immunology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, United States

Post-Graduate Training

Type: Post-Doctorate, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Post-Doctorate, infectious disease, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, August 1999, June 2001

Work Experience

2022 - Ongoing

Hepatitis C Program Manager, South Carolina Department of Corrections, Columbia, South Carolina, United States

2014 - 2021

Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina, United States

2005 - 2013

Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University Health Sci. Ctr.-Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, United States

2001 - 2005

Instructor, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, United States

1991 - 1993

Biochemist, 3M Pharmaceuticals, Woodbury, Minnesota, United States

Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions

Journal Article

Completed/Published

Shang, Z.; Ferris, Z. E.; Sweeney, D.; Chase, A. B.; Yuan, C.; Hui, Y.; Hou, L.; Older, E. A.; Xue, D.; Tang, X.; Zhang, W.; Nagarkatti, P.; Nagarkatti, M.; Testerman, T. L.; Jensen, P. R.; Li, J. Grincamycins P-T: Rearranged Angucyclines from the Marine Sediment-Derived  Sp. CNZ-748 Inhibit Cell Lines of the Rare Cancer Pseudomyxoma Peritonei. 2021, 84, 1638–1648.
Xavier, J. B.; Young, V. B.; Skufca, J.; Ginty, F.; Testerman, T.; Pearson, A. T.; Macklin, P.; Mitchell, A.; Shmulevich, I.; Xie, L.; Caporaso, J. G.; Crandall, K. A.; Simone, N. L.; Godoy-Vitorino, F.; Griffin, T. J.; Whiteson, K. L.; Gustafson, H. H. H.; Slade, D. J.; Schmidt, T. M.; Walther-Antonio, M. R. S.; Korem, T.; Webb-Robertson, B.-J. M.; Styczynski, M. P.; Johnson, W. E.; Jobin, C.; Ridlon, J. M.; Koh, A. Y.; Yu, M.; Kelly, L.; Wargo, J. A. The Cancer Microbiome: Distinguishing Direct and Indirect Effects Requires a Systemic View. 2020, 6, 192–204.
Alkarkoushi, R. R. R.; Hui, Y.; Tavakoli, A. S.; Singh, U.; Nagarkatti, P.; Nagarkatti, M.; Chatzistamou, I.; Bam, M.; Testerman, T. L. Immune and microRNA Responses to  Infection and Indole-3-Carbinol during Colitis. 2020, 26, 4763–4785.
Lawson, P. A.; Patel, N. B.; Mohammed, A.; Moore, E. R. B.; Lo, A. S.; Sardi, A.; Davis, J. M.; Doyle, D. A.; Hui, Y.; Testerman, T. Gen. Nov., Sp. Nov., a Member of the Family  Isolated from a Human Peritoneal Tumour and Reclassification of  as  Comb. Nov. 2020, 70, 3639–3646.

Hear from the Students Who’ve Been in Your Shoes

Our Value: Integrative Health, Inclusivity

I chose SCU when looking for a PA program because of their Integrative Medicine approach. I am from Michigan, and not many programs focus on this Integrative, Holistic approach when it comes to patient care in the Midwest, and I felt that was very important for me to learn as a future provider. My transition to semi-virtual learning has been very smooth and quite enjoyable. My favorite part about attending SCU is how tight-knit and diverse the community is. Coming from a large undergrad university and moving so far, it was very important for me to have a PA program that made me feel valued and invested in my success. At SCU, they do a great job of making you feel that.

 

Brianna Hadley

MSPA Class of 2022

Our Value: Integrative Health

One of the great things about SCU is we do have a campus layout, so all your classes aren't in a single room. We have our cadaver lab. We have different specialty rooms for physical assessment classes vs. acupuncture classes. All our acupuncture-specific classes have all the herbs in the room. You can pull out the herbs and look at them, whether in class or in between classes to get that extra studying in.

My favorite part of SCU is the collaboration from our beginning terms. We were working alongside chiropractor students, PA students, and ayurvedic students. It's a unique community where we get to learn about these different fields and sit in classrooms with them and work with them in the clinic. It allows you to get an understanding of all the different fields and how they can work together, and what is unique about your field. I think that is a wonderful aspect that I didn't think was going to be as prominent as it is here; even now, in my upper term classes and I am not in class with chiropractic students, I can still reach out to them about a certain aspect I may not understand or if I am working on a case. I want another perspective I know I have them to reach out to, so that has been a great networking community to have resources for.

Dr. Jamie Kuljis

Graduate, Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

Our Value: Integrative Health, Inclusivity

"There are a lot of things that I love about the program at SCU. The first one is that the faculty come from a long line of Ayurvedic knowledge deeply rooted in ancient classical text. They studied Ayurveda, but they also lived it. When you learn from people who embody this wisdom, it's much easier to grasp this knowledge. The second thing I love is the camaraderie within the cohort. The combination of the training, supportive faculty, and the support of my peers and classmates has given me the confidence I need to start my own practice."

Portia Harris

Student, Ayurveda Program

Our Value: Evidence-Based Practice

Some of my favorite courses at SCU have to be the chiropractic procedure classes; those are the classes you get to hone in on your chiro skills, your palpation skills and ultimately work on the adjustments that make you a chiropractor. Those are the classes I feel enhance my knowledge the most and are some of the reasons I chose to become a chiropractor here are SCU.

On top of chiropractic procedures classes, my favorite is the cadaver lab experience. The cadaver classes opened up my perception of what the human body is made up of. It allowed me to get an in-person perspective of how the body works and looks on the inside. I am genuinely thankful for those experiences because they opened and broadened my horizons to the human body and anatomy in general.

Jordan Vega

Student, Doctor of Chiropractic

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