People

I study how bacterial pathogens cause disease and work to develop new antimicrobial compounds that target an important bacterial appendage called the type III secretion system.

I use molecular genetic and computational approaches to study the biological consequences of random changes in genetic information mutations that occur spontaneously or as a result of environmental insults.

I investigate how environmental exposures modulate genome expression across generations, with an emphasis on the environmental contribution to human disease.

I study how variation in innate immune responses impact susceptibility or resistance to infection disease, with a primary focus on Streptococcus pneumoniae infection.

My research focused on how pathogenic bacteria such as Helicobacter pylori use environmental cues to establish infection.

I study the microbes that live in the human intestine to understand how beneficial and harmful gut bacteria compete with one another for nutrients in the foods we eat, with the goal of developing technologies for manipulating the intestinal ecosystem to improve human health.

My research focuses on how bacteria alter the toxicity of aquatic pollutants, such as arsenic and nitrate in diverse environments including groundwater, surface water, and extreme environments.

My research explores basic mechanisms underlying how toxic metal exposures contributes to cellular effects and disease, including lead, mercury, and arsenic.

Biofilms are surface-attached microbial communities that cause significant problems in environmental, industrial, and clinical settings. My research group studies the mechanisms and regulation of biofilm formation and biofilm-mediated hyperinfectivity.