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Research Summary

Stanford
Microbiology Department

We study innate immunity and host-pathogen interactions.  We are currently working on models for malaria, tuberculosis and other intracellular pathogens.  

We work at both cellular and whole animal levels.  Work at cellular level helps us discover what a microorganism must do survive in a hostile environment like a macrophage.  Studies at the whole organism level let us understand the larger physiological processes that decide whether we live or die.  

All of our projects start with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and we use the fly in two ways:  first, as a model human, to study how bacterial pathogens like Mycobacterium, Listeria and Salmonella survive within phagocytes, second, as a model mosquito, to determine how insects act as vectors for malaria. 

The reason for starting with Drosophila is its vast array of tools. Our principal tool is genetics and we use genetic manipulations of both the fly and pathogens to probe host-pathogen interactions.  Genetic transformation, transcriptome analysis and in vitro studies using cultured phagocytes complement our genetic screens.