Nicole L. Pershing
No Rating Available
(Learn About Our Rating System)

Nicole L. Pershing, MD, PHD

Languages spoken: English

Dr. Pershing is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah. Dr. Pershing completed her Doctoral and Medical degrees at Duke University School of Medicine. She then completed her residency training in Pediatrics and fellowship training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Pershing’s clinical interests include treatment and prevention of general infectious diseases, with a special interest in serious bacterial infections in children. Dr. Pershing’s research interests include investigation of bacterial, viral, and patient factors that contribute to these severe bacterial infections. Her current research focuses on genetic elements present in bacteria that are associated with severe infections, and the impact of viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages, on bacteria present in the gut microbial community that cause human disease.

Specialties

Board Certification

American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Infectious Diseases)
American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)

Dr. Pershing is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah. Dr. Pershing completed her Doctoral and Medical degrees at Duke University School of Medicine. She then completed her residency training in Pediatrics and fellowship training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Pershing’s clinical interests include treatment and prevention of general infectious diseases, with a special interest in serious bacterial infections in children. Dr. Pershing’s research interests include investigation of bacterial, viral, and patient factors that contribute to these severe bacterial infections. Her current research focuses on genetic elements present in bacteria that are associated with severe infections, and the impact of viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages, on bacteria present in the gut microbial community that cause human disease.

Board Certification and Academic Information

Academic Departments Pediatrics -Assistant Professor
Academic Divisions Infectious Diseases
Board Certification
American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Infectious Diseases)
American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Le Roux Ö, Pershing NLK, Kaltenbrun E, Newman NJ, Everitt JI, Baldelli E, Pierobon M, Petricoin EF, Counter CM (2022). Genetically manipulating endogenous Kras levels and oncogenic mutations in vivo influences tissue patterning of murine tumorigenesis. Elife, 11.
  2. Gladstone RA, Lo SW, Goater R, Yeats C, Taylor B, Hadfield J, Lees JA, Croucher NJ, van Tonder AJ, Bentley LJ, Quah FX, Blaschke AJ, Pershing NL, Byington CL, Balaji V, Hryniewicz W, Sigauque B, Ravikumar KL, Almeida SCG, Ochoa TJ, Ho PL, du Plessis M, Ndlangisa KM, Cornick JE, Kwambana-Adams B, Benisty R, Nzenze SA, Madhi SA, Hawkins PA, Pollard AJ, Everett DB, Antonio M, Dagan R, Klugman KP, von Gottberg A, Metcalf BJ, Li Y, Beall BW, McGee L, Breiman RF, Aanensen DM, Bentley SD, The Global Pneumococcal Sequencing Consortium (2020). Visualizing variation within Global Pneumococcal Sequence Clusters (GPSCs) and country population snapshots to contextualize pneumococcal isolates. Microb Genom, 6(5).
  3. Pershing NL, Yang CFJ, Xu M, Counter CM (2016). Treatment with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME provides a survival advantage in a mouse model of Kras mutation-positive, non-small cell lung cancer. Oncotarget, 7(27), 42385-42392.
  4. Pershing NL, Lampson BL, Belsky JA, Kaltenbrun E, MacAlpine DM, Counter CM (2015). Rare codons capacitate Kras-driven de novo tumorigenesis. J Clin Invest, 125(1), 222-33.
  5. Lampson BL, Pershing NL, Prinz JA, Lacsina JR, Marzluff WF, Nicchitta CV, MacAlpine DM, Counter CM (2013). Rare codons regulate KRas oncogenesis. Curr Biol, 23(1), 70-5.
  6. Kashatus DF, Lim KH, Brady DC, Pershing NL, Cox AD, Counter CM (2011). RALA and RALBP1 regulate mitochondrial fission at mitosis. Nat Cell Biol, 13(9), 1108-15.
  7. Cadotte N, Moore H, Stone BL, Pershing NL, Ampofo K, Ou Z, Pavia AT, Blaschke AJ, Flaherty B, Crandall (2024). Prevalence of and Risks for Bacterial Infections in Hospitalized Children With Bronchiolitis. Hospital pediatrics, 14(8), 603-611.
  8. Belman S, Lefrancq N, Nzenze S, Downs S, du Plessis M, Lo SW, Global Pneumococcal Sequencing Consortium, McGee L, Madhi SA, von Gottberg A, Bentley SD, Salje (2024). Geographical migration and fitness dynamics of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Nature, 631(8020), 386-392.
  9. Lindsey LM, Pershing NL, Habib A, Dufault-Thompson K, Stephens WZ, Blaschke AJ, Jiang X, Sundar (2025). The impact of tokenizer selection in genomic language models. Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 41(9),
  10. Lindsey LM, Pershing NL, Habib A, Dufault-Thompson K, Stephens WZ, Blaschke AJ, Jiang X, Sundar (2025). The Impact of Tokenizer Selection in Genomic Language Models. bioRxiv,
  11. Brzozowski RS, Schmidt AK, Pershing NL, Dankwardt A, Faith DR, Joyce AC, Maciver A, Henriques WS, Andersen SE, Wiedenheft B, Casjens SR, Duerkop BA, Round JL, Secor P (2025). A prophage-encoded sRNA limits lytic phage infection of adherent-invasive E. coli. bioRxiv,
  12. Pershing NL, Brzozowski RS, Schmidt AK, Faith DR, Joyce AC, de Ora LO, Kominsky JD, Dankwardt A, Maciver A, Bell R, Henriques WS, Andersen SE, Wiedenheft B, Casjens SR, Duerkop BA, Round JL, Secor P (2026). A prophage-encoded sRNA limits phage infection of adherent-invasive E. coli. PLoS pathogens, 22(1), e1013836.
  13. Weis AM, Matthews OCJ, Bell R, Pershing NL, Dankwardt A, Fleming BA, Gigic B, Schneider M, Hardikar S, Toriola AT, Shibata D, Li CI, Byrd DA, Stephens WZ, Ulrich CM, Mulvey MA, Round J Isolation of a Highly Virulent Colibactin-Positive Tumor-Promoting Strain of Escherichia coli from the Gut Microbiota of an Adult. mSphere,
  14. Lindsey LM, Pershing NL, Dufault-Thompson K, Gwak HJ, Habib A, Schindler A, Rakheja A, Round J, Stephens WZ, Blaschke AJ, Sundar H, Jiang (2026). LAMBDA: A Prophage Detection Benchmark for Genomic Language Models. bioRxiv,

Schedule Online