Gerald B. Koudelka

Gerald B. Koudelka is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University at Buffalo, part of the College of Arts and Sciences. He holds the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. His research focuses on two major themes: mechanisms of DNA-protein interactions and the evolutionary role of bacteriophage-encoded exotoxins as antipredator defenses.

Dr. Koudelka earned his PhD from the University at Buffalo and completed postdoctoral research at Harvard University. His work combines molecular genetics, microbial ecology, and evolutionary biology to explore how bacteria interact with their environment. Key areas include understanding how regulatory proteins recognize DNA sequences and investigating the ecological functions of Shiga toxin-encoding bacteriophages in bacterial survival strategies.

Research highlights include discovering that Shiga toxin production may primarily function as a defense against predatory protists rather than targeting mammals, and elucidating the role of DNA conformation in protein binding specificity. His lab has also developed novel recombineering systems for genetic manipulation of enterohemorrhagic E. coli.

Recent studies (2023-2024) focus on how bacterial surface structures like LPS influence amoeba predation and the role of prophage-encoded enzymes in regulating toxin expression. Awards include the SUNY Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award and American Academy of Microbiology Fellowship.

Dr. Koudelka maintains an active laboratory at Buffalo, with ongoing projects investigating bacterial defense mechanisms, phage-toxin ecology, and the environmental persistence of pathogenic E. coli strains.