Daniel Czyz

Daniel Czyz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Cell Science at the University of Florida. His research focuses on antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and neurodegenerative disease links to microbiota. He leads the CZYZ LAB, which investigates host-microbe interactions using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. Key projects include identifying alternatives to antibiotics and studying bacterial effects on protein homeostasis.

His team comprises PhD candidates, postdocs, and undergraduate researchers working on topics like phage therapy, proteotoxic bacteria, and microbiome-gut-brain axis interactions. The lab collaborates on projects involving traditional medicine screening, nanoparticle-enhanced drug delivery, and antibiotic stewardship strategies in clinical settings.

Research highlights include discovering how sub-therapeutic antibiotics induce prophage activation in Pseudomonas, demonstrating silver nanoparticle synergies with antibiotics, and using C. elegans to model gut-brain axis effects of microbiota. His work bridges fundamental microbiology with translational applications in infectious disease and neurodegenerative disorders.