Andrew Goodman
The overall goal of the Goodman lab is to dissect the mechanisms that commensal gut microbes use to compete, cooperate, and antagonize each other in the gut and to explore how microbiome variation impacts our response to external perturbations, including pathogenic infection and medical drugs.
Alexander Horswill
The overall interest of the Horswill Lab is the study of social activities of bacteria and host – pathogen interactions. Our group focuses on the major bacterial human pathogens Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Acinetobacter baumannii. We are investigating how these pathogens can regulate group behavior through quorum-sensing and other sensory mechanisms, and how this coordinated action impacts both colonization and pathogenesis. These bacterial pathogens can also aggregate and build biofilms in the host in order to persist, and we are examining surface proteins and regulatory mechanisms that are instrumental in carrying out this group behavior. In parallel to these projects, we are investigating how commensal bacteria, such as Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) and Corynebacterium sp., can impact S. aureus colonization and disease. Throughout our research, we use a variety of molecular, genetic, and biochemical approaches to investigate these mechanisms, as well as cell based methods and animal models.
Andrew Mehle
The Mehle Lab studies this battle during influenza virus infection. They focus on the influenza virus polymerase, the heart of the viral replication machinery. The polymerase is essential for viral replication mediating transcription of viral genes and replication of the viral genome. It assembles with the viral nucleoprotein (NP) and genomic RNA to form massive ribonucleoprotein complexes. The polymerase is also a major determinant of the pathogenic potential of emerging influenza viruses and a key regulator of cross-species transmission as viruses move from birds into humans.
Manuela Raffatellu
The Raffatellu Lab’s primary research focus is to understand the complex interplays between gut pathogens, mucosal immunity, and the gut microbiota, with the long-term goal of discovering novel and effective therapeutic targets for controlling infection. Our studies generally focus on the host response to gut mucosal pathogens such as Salmonella enterica, and we aim to decipher how the mucosal response to infection is orchestrated, including which components are beneficial to the host and which are evaded or exploited by pathogens to cause disease. Indeed, components of the immune response often constitute double-edged swords: on one edge, they are necessary to contain an infection to the mucosa; on the other edge, they can be leveraged by pathogens to outcompete the microbiota and to colonize the host. In order to unravel these complex interactions, we use a multidisciplinary research approach at the interface between microbiology and immunology, and we collaborate with many experts in related fields.