Ainslie
E.F.
Little
/
Patent Agent
Professional Experience
Ainslie Little is a patent agent in the Firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Ainslie focuses her practice as a patent agent on preparing and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications, and conducting reviews in matters related to patentability in biotechnology and the life sciences.
Technical Experience
Dr. Little’s technical background includes practical and academic experience in microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, ecology, evolutionary biology and statistics.
Education and Honors
- University of Wisconsin (Ph.D.,
2007)
- University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario (B.Sc.,
2001)
Court Admissions
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2009
Professional Recognition
Awarded:
Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant NSF (2006).
Herman Smyth Award: outstanding research by doctoral candidate, UW-Madison (2006).
Jerome J. Stefaniak Predoctoral Fellowship, UW-Madison (2005).
Eugenia S. Polson Scholarship, research excellence, U of Kansas (2004).
Ida H. Hyde Scholarship: women in science, Arthur Mix Scholarship, U of Kansas, Tinker Field Research Grant, The Tinker Foundation (2003).
Professional and Civic Activities
U.S. Department of Energy (Member of grant review panels).
Reviewer of manuscripts for various scientific journals.
Madison Family Wellness Community Clinic (Member of board of directors).
Selected Presentations/Publications
- Poulsen M, Cafaro, MJ, Erhardt, DP, Little AEF, Gerardo NM, Tebbets B, Klein BS & Currie CR (2010). Variation in Pseudonocardia antibiotic defense helps govern parasite-induced morbidity in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. Environmental Microbiology Reports 2:534-540.
- Little AEF & Currie CR. (2009). Parasites may help stabilize cooperative relationships. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9:124-132.
- Little AEF, Robinson, CJ, Peterson, SB, Raffa, KF & Handelsman J (2008). Rules of engagement: Interspecies interactions that regulate microbial communities. Annual Reviews in Microbiology 62:375-481.
- Little AEF & Currie CR (2008). Black yeast symbionts compromise the efficiency of antibiotic defenses in fungus-growing ants by a combination of direct and indirect effects. Ecology 89(5):1216-1222.
- Little AEF & Currie CR (2007). Symbiotic complexity: discovery of a fifth symbiont in the attine ant-microbe symbiosis. Biology Letters 3(5): 501-504.
- Taerum S, Cafaro MJ, Little AEF, Schultz TR, Currie CR (2007). Low host-pathogen specificity in the leaf-cutting ant-microbe symbiosis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274 (1621): 1971-1978.
- Little AEF, Murakami T, Mueller UG, Currie CR (2006). Defending against parasites: fungus-growing ants combine specialized behaviors and microbial symbionts to protect their fungus gardens. Biology Letters 2(1): 12-16.
- Little AEF, Murakami T, Mueller UG, Currie CR (2003). The infrabuccal pellet piles of fungus-growing ants. Naturwissenschaften 90(12): 558-562.
Book Chapters
- Little AEF (in press 2010). Parasitism is a strong force shaping the fungus-growing
ant-microbe symbiosis. In Cellular origin, life in extreme habitats and astrobiology: Cooperation and stress in biology. Eds J. Seckbeck & M. Grube. Springer.
- Poulsen M, Little, AEF, Currie, CR (2009). Fungus-growing ant-microbe symbiosis: Using microbes to defend beneficial associations within symbiotic communities. In ‘Defensive Mutualism in Microbial Symbiosis,’ White, J.F. and Torres, M.S. (eds.) p. 149-164. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.