春水堂视频

Education

Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, 1998

Biography

Research Interests:
Host-Pathogen Interactions: How pathogenic bacteria evade and manipulate the mammalian immune system. Drug Discovery: Using basic science to identify and develop new antibacterials.

Research Profile:听
We identified a new niche for the bacterial pathogen,听Salmonella, during persistent infection.听Salmonella听resides both within and outside of cells to cause disease. With confocal microscopy, we showed that the bacteria lives in macrophages that have engulfed erythrocytes or leukocytes, called "hemophagocytic" macrophages (HMs). We developed a cell culture model of HMs and with it established that HMs are able to kill听E. coli听but not听Salmonella, that听Salmonella听acquires the essential nutrient iron from HMs, and that听Salmonella听stimulates macrophages to engulf erythrocytes to become HMs. In addition,听Salmonella-infected mice, like humans with typhoid fever, accumulate HMs. We also recently embarked on a complementary project to identify new antibacterial therapeutics.