Senior Staff

We study the immunological aspect of the system biology effects from genetic susceptibilities and environmental stress defined as the exposome on autoimmune diseases, immune deficiencies, and neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral illnesses.

The goal of our research is to characterize the differences between antigenically naive (virgin) and memory T helper cells at the developmental, phenotypic and functional levels.

Our work strives to further the knowledge of the mechanisms behind mucosal immune alterations that can lead to food allergies and malnutrition.

We study how serum and mucosal antibodies protect mammalian hosts from microbial pathogens and toxins. We are interested in next-generation vaccines and adjuvants to combat biothreat agents and enteric diseases.

We use genetics and molecular biology to learn how coronaviruses, a family of RNA viruses including the agents that cause SARS and MERS, replicate their genetic material and assemble into virions during infection.

We study gene regulation in the context of bacterial pathogenesis, with a focus on two pathogens: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB, and Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of bubonic and pneumonic plague.

We develop molecular diagnostic assays and reference testing for the detection and characterization of pathogenic bacteria and mycobacteria and to predict antibiotic resistance using real-time PCR and whole genome sequencing.

We study mosquito-borne arboviruses, focusing on vertical transmission and persistent arboviral infections in mosquitoes. We are also interested in determining the role of RNA-RNA recombination in virus evolution.

We investigate the influence of biofilm growth on the mechanisms of pathogenesis, persistence and drug tolerance in mycobacterial pathogens, with particular emphasis on Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

We focus on simplifying and automating published low-volume newborn screening tests in order to transform them into high-volume assays.

We seek to understand bacterial communication by investigating how bacteria interpret autoinducers and elicit appropriate gene expression, and, more globally, to understand how all organisms decode environmental stimuli.

We develop and maintain robust ICP-MS methodologies to support both human biomonitoring studies and emergency preparedness.

We study human exposure to toxic metals/metalloids (biomonitoring) and long-lived nuclides (radiobioassay); and develop novel speciation methods by coupling LC and GC to ICP-MS, while using portable XRF for field-based studies.

We study the molecular mechanisms by which multiple DNA polymerases replicate bacterial genomes completely, with high accuracy and tolerance for DNA damage, yet also create mutations that give rise to antibiotic resistance.