Michael A. Olson

About

I attended Snow College, unsure of what direction to pursue in college, but I became interested in the sciences, particularly microbiology, and was fascinated by how bacteria circumvent the immune system and cause disease. At Snow College, I had the phenomenal opportunity to assist with a research project where we tested the efficacy of a novel anti-fungal drug on several fungal pathogens. This project distilled a love for research and motivated me to continue my academic journey after Snow College. I graduated from Snow College with an associate degree and transferred to Utah State University. I finished my bachelor's degree at USU and graduated in 2014 with a biology major and a chemistry minor.

I am interested in host-pathogen interactions and how pathogens evolve and adapt. After a few lab rotations at Brigham Young University, I joined the Erickson Lab to work on a PhD in molecular biology and microbiology. My PhD work characterized Escherichia coli that causes mastitis in dairy cattle, and we identified virulence factors that allow these bacteria to cause disease in the mammary gland and at different tissue sites. I started teaching at Snow College in the spring of 2021 and love sharing my passion for science and biology.

Education

• A.A.S.; Snow College
• B.S.; Major in Biology, minor in Chemistry, Utah State University
• Ph.D.; Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Brigham Young University

Publications

1. Prince RJD, Bogati R, Lytle T, Collado Silva A, LeBaron RA, Sorge T, Olson MA, Wilson E, Erickson DL. Genetic control of Group 3 (K96) capsule synthesis and complement resistance in extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli. mSphere. 2026;0:e00237-26.
2. Parveen N, Durrant S, Olson MA, Shakespear EP, Jones TR, Prince RJD, Wilson E, Erickson DL. Opposing roles for iron transport systems in gallium tolerance in extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli. Journal of Bacteriology. 2025;207:e00349-25.
3. Olson MA, Cullimore C, Hutchison WD, Grimsrud A, Nobrega D, De Buck J, Barkema HW, Wilson E, Pickett BE, Erickson DL. Genes associated with fitness and disease severity in the pan-genome of mastitis-associated Escherichia coli. Front Microbiol. 2024 Aug 29;15:1452007.
4. Olson MA, Grimsrud A, Richards AC, Mulvey MA, Wilson E, Erickson DL. A link between zinc uptake, bile salts, and a capsule required for virulence of a mastitis-associated extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli strain. Infection and Immunity. 2021 Oct; 89(10).
5. Olson MA, Siebach TW, Griffitts JS, Wilson E, Erickson DL. Genome-wide identification of fitness factors in mastitis-associated Escherichia coli. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2018 Jan 2;84(2).