معرفی
Natividad Ruiz is a Professor of Microbiology and Vice Chair for Teaching and Undergraduate Affairs at The Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a B.A. from the University of Kansas (1993), a Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis (1998), and completed postdoctoral research at Princeton University (1998–2010). Her research focuses on bacterial cell envelope biogenesis in Gram-negative bacteria, particularly lipid transport mechanisms and outer membrane assembly. Key projects include studying MurJ's role in peptidoglycan biogenesis and the Lpt trans-envelope complex's function in LPS transport. Her work bridges bacterial genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology.
Research highlights include discoveries about phospholipid transport via YhdP/TamB/YdbH proteins and the structural basis of LPS export. Awards include 2023 AAAS Fellowship and 2021 College of Arts and Sciences Honors Service Award. She advises graduate students in microbiology and contributes to the Ohio State Biochemistry Program. Her lab investigates intermembrane lipid transport and envelope integrity maintenance, with recent work on AsmA-like proteins' evolutionary links to eukaryotic organelle transport systems.
