Ph.D., University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
B.S., State University of New York College at Geneseo
Support for Scholarly Work
Dr. Picardo is the Assistant Provost and oversees the Office of Sponsored Programs. In this role, she provides leadership for promoting, securing, and administering external public grant funding to support research/scholarship, program development, and capital improvements at St. John Fisher University. In addition, Dr. Picardo serves as the founding director of the Center for Student Research & Creative Work. As director, she works to develop and expand programs for students in any major to engage in authentic research during their time at Fisher. She has served with the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) in various capacities since 2016 to support student research on a national level.
Learn more about the Center for Student Research and Creative Work
Teaching and Research
Dr. Picardo formerly served as a Professor of Biology and primarily taught General Biology and Microbes & Disease courses. She mentored over 50 undergraduate student researchers in her laboratory. Projects focused on studying pathogenic bacteria and the mechanisms they use to cause disease. Dr. Picardo is a certified Apple Teacher and was actively involved in the iPad Next Generation Learning Initiative, serving as one of the first iFisher Apple Faculty Fellows. In addition, she was the Principal Investigator on Fisher's first National Science Foundation S-STEM grant supporting low-income, academically talented STEM students.
Publications (*denotes undergraduate research student author; also published as “K. Furano”)
- A scoping review: Literature on undergraduate research and career readiness, Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research, 8(1), 2024. Co-authored with A. B. MacDonald, J. Mekolichick, E. E. Hall, & R. Richards.
- Successful Failure: Leveraging Mindfulness and Growth Oriented Reframing to Build Undergraduate Research Resilience, Confronting Failure: Approaches to Building Confidence and Resilience in Undergraduate Researchers. Chapter co-authored with S.G. Goodman, M. Goodwin, N.T. Ahmed, and M. Erklenz-Watts.
- Beyond Learning: Leveraging Undergraduate Research into Marketable Workforce Skills, SPUR: Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research, 2020. Co-authored with Kimberly McClure-Brenchley and Julia Overton-Healy.
- Measuring Student Learning Gains in Independent Research Experiences in the Sciences through Reflective Practice and ePortfolios, Bioscene Journal of College Biology Teaching, 2018. Co-authored with Katie Sabourin.
- Traditional Biocidal Replacement Viability of Microcrystalline Silver Chloride, Journal of Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology, 2017. Co-authored with Z. Hemminger*, P. Walsh, and R. Curtis.
- Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from the Nasal Cavity Flora of Nursing Majors, Journal of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Excellence, 2015. Co-authored with Jennifer Rath*, Breanna Christmas*, and Theresa Westbay.
- Self-screening for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Nasal Colonization as a Component of Hand Hygiene Education, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 2014. Co-authored with Tia Lum, Theresa Westbay, Amber Barnello*, Lynn Fine, and Jill Lavigne.
- Novel Research in the College Classroom: Identification of Antibiotic Resistant Pseudomonas Species From a Wastewater Treatment Plant, Current Research, Technology and Education Topics in Applied Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, 2010. Chapter co-authored with Douglas W. Giroux*.
- Tools for detecting Moraxella catarrhalis, No. 7,468,256, Patent issued Dec. 23, 2008, Assignee: The Research Foundation of State University of New York. Invented with Anthony Campagnari, Nicole Luke, Amy Howlett, and Katie Edwards.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence and Pathogenesis Issues, Pseudomonas: Genomics and Molecular Biology, 2008. Chapter co-authored with Victoria E. Wagner, Melanie J. Filiatrault, and Barbara H. Iglewski.
- Nitrate Sensing and Metabolism Modulate Motility, Biofilm Formation, and Virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Infection and Immunity, 2007. Co-authored with Nadine E. Van Alst, Barbara H. Iglewski, and Constantine G. Haidaris.
- Identification of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Genes Involved in Virulence and Anaerobic Growth, Infection and Immunity, 2006. Co-authored with M. J. Filiatrault, H. Ngai, L. Passador, and B. H. Iglewski.
- Identification of a Conserved Moraxella catarrhalis Hemoglobin-Utilization Protein, MhuA, Microbiology, 2005. Co-authored with N. R. Luke, A. J. Howlett, and A. A. Campagnari.
- Identification of a Hemin Utilization Protein of Moraxella catarrhalis (HumA), Infection and Immunity, 2004. Co-authored with A. A. Campagnari.
- Inactivation of the Moraxella catarrhalis 7169 Ferric Uptake Regulator Increases Susceptibility to the Bactericidal Activity of Normal Human Sera, Infection and Immunity, 2003. Co-authored with A. A. Campagnari.