First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
James,Samuel,Regents Professor and Head,"Our laboratory works with the obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, Coxiella burnetii, the etiologic agent of Q fever and a category B biothreat agent. The long-term goal of this research is to understand the molecular pathogenic mechanisms involved in the host-pathogen interaction. To accomplish this broad goal, project in the lab are designed to test the molecular mechanisms employed by both the host and pathogen. Current pathogen studies include 1) broad survey of proteins secreted via a type 4 secretion system (T4SS) followed by determination of essentiality of each substrate for virulence and detailed analysis of mechanism of host modulation 2) survey of essential virulence loci identified by specific mutant screens, and 3) definition of the relative virulence of phylogenetically distinct isolate groups.",Regents Professor and Head,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n01c3216f
Jon,Skare,Regents Professor and Associate Head,"Jon Skare is Regents Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology in the College of Medicine at Texas A&M University. He has been a faculty member at Texas A&M since 1996 and has led a research laboratory centered around the pathogenic mechanisms operative in Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochetal bacterium that causes Lyme disease. He has published over 50 peer reviewed manuscript, reviews, and book chapters and been funded continuously by the NIH since 1999 with over $20 million dollars in total costs. Dr. Skare has trained ten graduate students, sixteen postdoctoral fellows, and numerous undergraduate students in his research group during his time at Texas A&M. The majority of his postdoctoral trainees and students have gone on to hold academic or industry positions in the medical sciences.
Research interests are focused on microbial pathogenesis with an emphasis in spirochetal infections, particularly Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. Broad training in the molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry of prokaryotic systems is employed to answer research-related questions. Long-term interests in the lab are centered on understanding how B. burgdorferi promotes its pathogenic potential and persists in the disparate hosts it occupies in nature (e.g., both ticks and mammals). In this regard, the research program is aligned with: (i) regulatory pathways that contribute to the establishment of infection during the arthropod to mammalian transition; (ii) identifying and characterizing surface structures that contribute to the colonization and maintenance of infection via adherence mechanisms; and (iii) the ability of B. burgdorferi and relapsing fever Borrelia to persistently infect hosts in the face of a potent innate and adaptive immune response.",Professor and Associate Head,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n638ae603
Jeffrey,Cirillo,Professor,"Our laboratory is interested in the pathogenesis of bacterial lung infections particularly tuberculosis and Legionnaires' disease. We are examining the virulence mechanisms of bacteria using cellular, molecular and genetic techniques. Our primary research goal is to obtain a better understanding of the roles of the pathogen and host in disease. These studies should contribute to our understanding of host-pathogen interactions at the molecular and cellular level that can be used for prevention, treatment and diagnosis. We hope that through a better understanding of the mechanisms by which these organisms cause disease we can prevent some, if not all, of these infections in the future.",Professor||Director,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology||Center for Airborne Pathogen Research and Tuberculosis Imaging,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/ne8bc1122