Pathogens Research Group

The Translational Research on Microbial Pathogens Group is a multidisciplinary group of faculty that includes environmental microbiologists, molecular biologists, physiologists, epidemiologists and physician scientists, dedicated to bringing state of the art scientific techniques to the clinical investigation of human infections. The faculty include: Drs. Judith Flanagan, Susan Lynch, Yuanlin Song, Jeanine Wiener-Kronish, and Hanjing Zhuo.

The purpose of the group is to advance the treatment of human infections by discovering the mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis in patients. We are also searching for specific biomarkers in lung lavage fluid that can identify bacterial-induced lung injury, to help differentiate colonization from infection in the lungs of patients. The biomarkers help physicians determine when antibiotic treatment is necessary.

Finally, we are interested in evaluating scientific tools that will allow doctors to increase the speed of bacterial detection in infected patients, and to improve the understanding of the mechanisms of health and disease caused by communities of bacteria.

Success with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The most significant success of the group to date involved the collection of over 2000 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from respiratory secretions of critically ill patients and characterization of the strains, using multiple tests, including genotyping, phenotypic assays, biological assays, and sequencing. We are working with the scientists at the Joint Genome Institute, Drs. James Bristow and Li Weng, on this project.

Periodontal and Environmental Collaborations

We are working with periodontists, Drs. Armitage and Loomer, on the impact of periodontal flora and perioperative pneumonia. We are also working with Dr. Susan Fisher on the use of salivary proteins as biomarkers for periodontal disease and vulnerability to lung infections.

We are working with environmental scientists, Gary Andersen and Eoin Brodie, to bring to patient care the tools now utilized in detecting microbes in the environment. We are using these tools to investigate the contribution of bacteria to reactive airway disease.

Current work on Bacterial Pathogens

Following our success with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we are now broadening our focus to other bacterial pathogens involved in causing acute and chronic respiratory disease in critically ill patients.

Our experimental endeavors help translate basic science tools and discoveries into the realm of clinical care. The use of clinical bacterial isolates in our experiments allows the investigation of bacteria that are representative of the bacteria causing disease in patients, not passaged, laboratory strains. Currently most research utilizes laboratory strains which do not reflect the bacteria that really exist in patients. Our research will establish the characteristics of the disease-causing clinical strains and accurately reflect their biology and pathogenesis.

This website

You can find the information about the faculty, fellows, students, technicians, clinical research coordinators and links to our collaborators on this website.