Photo

Language
English
Title and Department
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Professional bio
Leslie Meenderink, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

She earned her BS in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University. Her undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Paul Forscher looked a cytoskeleton dynamics in growth cones. She completed her MD and PhD at Vanderbilt. Her PhD thesis work in the lab of Dr. Steve Hanks focused on the role of p130Cas signaling in focal adhesion dynamics and cellular motility. She remained at Vanderbilt to complete an internal medicine residency and an infectious disease fellowship.

Dr. Meenderink studies how the intestinal epithelium establishes and maintains a barrier against intestinal microbes. Using a combination of human tissue, mouse models, and tissue culture in combination with advanced light and electron microscopy techniques, she seeks to understand how the intestinal epithelial interacts with commensal bacteria and defends against pathogenic microbes.
Education