Joanna-Lynn C. Borgogna, PhD

Assistant Professor

Education and Positions

2025 - Assistant Professor, Weissman-Hood Institute at TouroCOM Montana
- Assoc. Course Director of Public Health & Preventative Medicine

2023 - NIH K99/R00 Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC), Postdoctoral Fellow –Montana State University; Focus: Applying Machine Learning to Assess Lipidomic and Antioxidant Alterations in a Longitudinal Cohort of Aging Women (K99AG081495, PI: Borgogna)

2020 - 2023 Postdoctoral Fellow – Montana State University; Focus: Relation between psychosocial stress and molecular bacterial vaginosis in racial/ethnic minorities

2014 - 2019 Ph.D. – Microbiology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT; Thesis title: Examining the Potential Role of Biogenic Amines in Vaginal Microbial Ecology and Gynecological Health. Minor: Applied Statistics

2011-2014 B.S. – Biology, Point Loma Nazarene; Minor: Computational Biology

  • My research takes a collaborative, community-centered, and culture-informed approach to understanding how lifestyle practices, psychosocial stress, and social determinants shape the urogenital microenvironment. A central focus of this work is advancing health equity by serving underrepresented populations, including postmenopausal women and Native American communities.

    This work is conducted in partnership with local clinicians and community organizations. We apply machine learning to clinical data to identify multi-omic biomarkers of urogenital health, which we then validate through integrated metabolite–microbiota–cell culture assays.

    This research would be impossible without the generosity, support, and trust of the community members who share their stories, time, and clinical samples. Their participation and goodwill are the foundation of this work. Thank you.