Roger S. Greenwell Jr., Ph.D.

Roger S. Greenwell Jr., Ph.D.

Worcester State University

Roger S. Greenwell Jr., Ph.D., is an associate professor in the biology department at Worcester State University in Worcester, Mass.  He serves as co-coordinator of the undergraduate biotechnology program and graduate program coordinator for the M.S. in biotechnology program, and he also serves as the life sciences industry liaison for the university.

Roger grew up in Kentucky and earned his B.S. in recombinant genetics and chemistry from Western Kentucky University. He received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010, under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Donohue. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Joanne Willey as a postdoctoral researcher at Hofstra University, studying the developmental regulation of Streptomyces coelicolor. After 2 years as a postdoc, Roger became a faculty member at Hofstra University before joining the faculty at Worcester State University in 2014. Roger joined the Northeast Branch of ASM and has served as a local councilor since 2016.

The Greenwell laboratory continues to focus on S. coelicolor development, stress responses and gene regulation. He is also studying interspecies microbial interactions between bacteria and fungi, biofilm formation by environmental Pseudomonas species, trematode parasites infecting fish, soil microbiomes and antibiotic discovery and development.