Peter Stuckey

Pete is from Okemos, MI and attended Hope College in Holland, MI where he earned his B.S. in Biology. He was first introduced to research in his undergraduate career where he assisted a psycho-acoustic lab with work examining the intersection of language, race, gender, and age. After graduation, Pete spent a few years working at a brain performance center focused on improving mental health through therapy and behavioral modifications. In 2018, Pete decided to attend graduate school at the University of Notre Dame. After completing rotations in development and evolution labs, Pete chose to join the Santiago-Tirado lab. His research focuses on gaining a better understanding of the intracellular interactions of C. neoformans in host immune cells. To do this, he focused on the characteristics of the cryptococcal-containing phagosome. Throughout his time as a graduate student, he also was a constant mentor for undergraduates and other graduate students in the lab and in the department. He defended in October 2024 and became a postdoc shortly thereafter.

Publications:

• Stuckey PV, Marine J, Figueras M, et al. The Vacuolar Protein 8 (Vac8) Homolog in Cryptococcus neoformans Impacts Stress Responses and Virulence Traits Through Conserved and Unique Roles. Journal of Fungi. 2025; 11(12):877. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11120877.
  
• Winski CJ, Stuckey PV, Marrufo AM, et al. Lack of an atypical PDR transporter generates an immunogenic Cryptococcus neoformans strain that drives a dysregulated and lethal immune response in murine lungs. mBio. 2025;16(7):e0132125. doi:10.1128/mbio.01321-25.
• Cohen DG, Heidenreich TM, Schorey JW, Ross JN, Hammers DE, Vu H, Moran T, Winski CJ, Stuckey P, et al. Minimal domain peptides derived from enterocins exhibit potent antifungal activity. Front Fungal Biol.  2024;5:1506315. doi:10.3389/ffunb.2024.1506315.
• Stuckey PV and Santiago-Tirado FH. Fungal mechanisms of intracellular survival: what can we learn from bacterial pathogens? Infect Immun. 2023;91(9):e0043422. doi:10.1128/iai.00434-22.
• La Bella AA, Andersen MJ, Gervais NC, Molina JJ, Molesan A, Stuckey PV, et al. The catheterized bladder environment promotes Efg1- and Als1-dependent Candida albicans infection. Sci Adv. 2023;9(9):eade7689. doi:10.1126/sciadv.ade7689.
• Marrufo AM, Molina JJ, Gager C, Andersen MJ, LaBella AA, Lucas ER, Wongso E, Urmi T, Arias-Parbul K, Webster R, Stuckey PV, et al. (2024) The catheterized bladder environment induces dysregulation of macrophage polarization exacerbating bacterial UTI. bioRxiv:2024.07.16.603761. doi: 10.1101/2024.07.16.603761.