Assistant Professor, Cellular and Molecular Biology
Email: Amanda.Morris@uttyler.edu
Department: Cellular and Molecular Biology
Amanda Morris
Dr. Amanda Morris is a microbiologist with over a decade of academic and industry experience investigating bacterial biofilms in human disease and the environment. At the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT), her research integrates clinical and environmental sampling with translational approaches to elucidate how biofilm ecology and polymicrobial interactions shape nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections.
Before joining UTHSCT, Dr. Morris led biofilm‑centered antimicrobial susceptibility testing of nosocomial pathogens linked to pulmonary disease and evaluated silver‑coated medical devices for anti‑biofilm performance. She was a Research Associate and Postdoctoral Fellow in Translational Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, where she investigated biofilm‑mediated antimicrobial resistance in cystic fibrosis airways, including polymicrobial infections involving Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. While at SickKids, she was a Cystic Fibrosis Canada Research Fellow and a Fusion Gala award recipient.
Dr. Morris earned her PhD in Environmental Applied Science, Microbiology from Toronto Metropolitan University, where she examined the prevalence and transport of zoonotic pathogens in riverbed biofilms. She also holds a Master of Environmental Sciences from the University of Guelph and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Syracuse University.