First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Karuppiah,Chockalingam,Research Assistant Professor,,Research Assistant Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n015218cf
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
Carolyn,Cannon,Associate Professor,"Our goal is to develop novel, non-toxic antimicrobial formualtions with efficacy against gram-positive and gram-negative multi-drug resistant pathogens.",Associate Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n0b3870aa
Van,Wilson,Professor,"My area of specialization is the molecular biology of papovaviruses, with a primary focus on how viral proteins modify the host cell environment. Recently, we determined that the viral replication proteins, E1 and E2, are post-translationally modified by addition of 1 or more SUMO moieties. Sumoylation is a widespread modification whose biological functions are only recently becoming understood. Studies are in progress to 1) determine the role of sumoylation in the viral life cycle, 2) evaluate the effect of sumoylation on the structure and activity of the E1 helicase, 3) understand the mechanism by which sumoylation influences E2 stability and transcriptional activity, and 4) determine how sumoylation is modulated by the viral E6 oncoprotein. In addition to the role of sumoylation in the viral life cycle, we are also exploring how sumoylation participates in normal keratinocyte differentiation. We have developed a keratinocyte cell line inducibly expressing a tagged SUMO moiety to facilitate proteomics studies of sumoylation changes and regulation during controlled differentiation.",Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n4837bbf9
Jianxun,Song,Professor,T cell biology
T cell-based immunotherapy
Cell metabolism,Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n5b9879a8
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
Kristin,Patrick,Assistant Professor,"Using a multi-disciplinary toolset, we probe the molecular mechanisms that macrophages use to activate an innate immune response that is rapid, robust, and regulated. We mainly study how RNA binding proteins control the ability of macrophages to respond to infection, using a variety of bacterial and viral models. By working to uncover how RNA binding proteins work and how macrophages functionalize RNA binding proteins to orchestrate a fine-tuned innate immune response, our work furthers our understanding of a variety of human diseases.",Assistant Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n6431d695
Helene,Andrews-Polymenis,Professor,"Salmonella is a leading cause of food borne illness, causing an estimated 1.4 million cases per year in the United States. Serovar Typhimurium is responsible for about 26% of these cases (CDC, 1998). The vast majority of Salmonella infections in mammals and birds are the result of infection with S. enterica subspecies I serovars, yet very few genetic factors that are necessary for intestinal persistence in these reservoirs have been described. Intestinal persistence is critical for shedding and transmission of serovar Typhimurium in mammals and birds, yet this phenomenon and interaction of the organism with the host immune system during persistent infection is poorly understood. The long-term goal of our work is to understand the genetic basis of persistence and host range restriction of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in its mammalian hosts.",Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n663cc5f1
A. Phillip,West,Assistant Professor,"Mitochondria are complex and dynamic organelles integral to many processes including energy generation, programmed cell death, signal transduction, and immunity. Research in my laboratory centers on understanding how mitochondria regulate innate immunity and inflammatory processes to influence human health and disease.",Assistant Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n739a434b
David,Huston,Professor,The overall goal of my laboratory is to understand mechanisms regulating inflammation and thereby develop strategies for modulating immune responses. One project focuses on the role of the cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) as the master switch in the pathobiology of allergic inflammation and asthma. The role of allergens and respiratory viruses on the induction of TSLP transcription by mast cells and epithelial cells is being studied in vitro and in human subjects.,Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nbd68089f
Robert,Watson,Assistant Professor,"We are interested in the interface between intracellular bacterial pathogens and the hosts they infect. In particular, we study the notorious human pathogen, Mycbacterium tuberculosis, which remains a major global health threat. M. tuberculosis has evolved a variety of specific adaptations to not only survive but also replicate within the harsh environment inside a macrophage. We want to understand the mechanisms by which M. tuberculosis is able to modulate the innate immune response to establish an infection as well as how the host detects and responds to M. tuberculosis.",Assistant Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nc0edc59a
Julian,Leibowitz,Professor,We have two projects in my lab. The first project is focused on identifying evolutionarily conserved RNA secondary structures in the coronavirus RNA genome and functionally examining their role in viral replication through reverse genetic and biochemical approaches. We have previously done this for a number of RNA secondary structures contained within the 5? and 3? regions of the genome and shown that they function as cis-acting elements in replication. Studies in my laboratory have identified a structurally dynamic region of the 5'UTR that interacts with the 3'UTR to facilitate transcription.
A second project in my laboratory has been to develop a reverse genetic system for MHV-1. In collaboration with investigators in Toronto and Pennsylvania my laboratory has demonstrated that MHV-1 infection of susceptible mice provides a safe and convenient rodent model for severe coronavirus infections such as SARS and MERS. The development of a reverse genetic system will allow us to investigate the contributions of individual viral genes to the pathogenesis of the severe pulmonary disease caused by this virus.,Professor||Professor,Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology||Veterinary Pathobiology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/ne2185aa0
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