Faculty Directory

Research

My research centers on genomics of infectious diseases, focusing on bacterial pathogens such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis. I use comparative approaches to understand evolution of traits such as virulence and antibiotic resistance phenotypes and develop countermeasures and diagnostics. As a microbial geneticist by training I have a long-standing fascination with the movement of genes between bacteria by lateral gene transfer. As someone who loves genetics in the broadest sense, I also am involved in several projects analyzing microbiome data, developing new bioinformatics tools and working with genomes of plants and vertebrate species.

Research Center(s)

• Center for Cystic Fibrosis and Airways Disease Research (CF-AIR) →