Dr. Nana Ankrah

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Nana was born and raised in Ghana and moved to the United States for graduate school. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville working with Dr. Alison Buchan and performed postdoctoral research at Cornell University with Dr. Angela Douglas. For research, Nana is primarily interested in interactions between microbes and viruses and understanding how microbe-virus interactions impact natural environments and animal health.

Nana enjoys teaching and mentoring students and participating in science outreach programs targeted at underrepresented groups in science. Outside of lab, Nana enjoys traveling, trying new foods, meeting people from different cultures and learning about their unique background and stories.

• Education
  • Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Tennessee
  • B.S., Biological Sciences, Oceanography and Fisheries Concentration, University of Ghana
• Teaching Areas
  • BIO 101 General Biology Lab
  • BIO 103 Concepts in Biology
  • BIO 202 Introduction to Microbiology
  • BIO 203 Microbiology
  • BIO 407 Immunology
• Research Areas
  • Bacteriophage-microbe interactions
  • Animal-microbe symbiosis
  • Drosophila
• Selected Publications
  • Ankrah NYD, Bernstein DB, Biggs M, Carey M, Engevik M, García-Jiménez B, Lakshmanan M, Pacheco AR, Sulheim S, Medlock GL. (2021). Enhancing Microbiome Research through Genome-Scale Metabolic Modeling. mSystems.https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00599-21
  • Ankrah NYD, Barker EB, Song J, Wu C, McMullen II JG, Douglas AE. (2021). Predicted Metabolic Function of the Gut Microbiota of Drosophila melanogaster. mSystems. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.01369-20
  • Zhang FQ, McMullen II JG, Douglas AE, Ankrah NYD. (2021). Succinate: a microbial product that modulates Drosophila nutritional physiology. Insect Sci.https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.12905
  • Blow F, Ankrah NYD, Clark N, Koo I, Allman E, Liu Q, Anitha M, Patterson A, Douglas AE. (2020). Impact of facultative bacteria on the metabolic function of an obligate insect-bacterial symbiosis. mBio.https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00402-20
  • Ankrah NYD, Wilkes RA, Zhang FQ , Zhu DT, Kaweesi T, Aristilde L, Douglas AE. (2020). Syntrophic splitting of central carbon metabolism in host cells bearing functionally-different symbiotic bacteria. ISMEJ.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-0661-z
  • Basso J, Ankrah NYD, Tuttle M, Grossman A, Sandaa RA, Buchan A. (2020). Genetically similar temperate phages differentially affect the physiology of their shared host. ISMEJ.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-0637-z
  • Ankrah NYD, Wilkes RA, Zhang FQ , Aristilde L, Douglas AE. (2019). The metabolome of associations between xylem-feeding insects and their bacterial symbionts. J Chem Ecol.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01136-7
  • Ankrah NYD, Chouaia B, Douglas AE. (2018). The cost of metabolic interactions in symbioses between insects and bacteria with reduced genomes. mBio.9:e01433-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01433-18
  • Ankrah NYD, Douglas AE. (2018). Nutrient factories: metabolic function of beneficial microorganisms associated with insects. Environ Microbiol.20:2002–2011. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14097
  • Ankrah NYD, Luan J, Douglas AE. (2017). Cooperative metabolism in a three-partner insect-bacterial symbiosis revealed by metabolic modeling. J Bacteriol.199:e00872-16. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00872-16
  • Ankrah NYD, May AL, Middleton JL, Jones DR , Hadden MK, Gooding JR, LeCleir G, Wilhelm SW, Campagna SR, Buchan A. (2014). Phage infection of an environmentally relevant marine bacterium alters host metabolism and lysate composition. ISMEJ. 8:1089–1100. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2013.216