Biography

My laboratory is interested in how pathogenic bacteria sense and respond to their surroundings. We study Vibrio cholerae, which causes the acute diarrheal illness cholera, to determine the various chemical signals that bacteria receive when infecting the human intestinal tract, and how these signals are converted into changes in gene expression. We have identified multiple small molecules produced by the host that V. cholerae interprets as a signal that it has entered the human intestines, and to activate its virulence program. We have also identified the role of quorum sensing, the use of small molecules by bacteria as a marker of population growth, in regulating virulence and biofilm production by V. cholerae. We are currently also focused on how V. cholerae senses and responds to oxidative and nitrosative stresses during infection. We employ a variety of innovative genetic screens, biochemical techniques, animal models, and deep sequencing to probe these hypotheses. Last, we have begun applying our expertise with V. cholerae to the study of Clostridium difficile, an increasingly important cause of hospital-associated and community-acquired diarrhea. We believe that our work will shed light on importance of bacterial pathogen’s genetic controls in the "hide-and-seek" game of host-pathogen interactions, with the goal of better understanding V. cholerae and C. difficile pathogenesis and, potentially, discovering novel treatment options for the diarrheal diseases.

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Research Interest

Bacterial pathogenesis, Quorum Sensing, Biofilms, Vibrio cholerae, Clostridium difficile