Profile

We study the pathogenesis of Chlamydia infections. As an obligate intracellular parasite, Chlamydia metabolically reprograms host cells to deplete the tumor suppressor TP53, pre-disposing them to a tumor-micro environment. My group focuses on the infection-cancer interface and investigates how the pathogen evades the immune system. Our laboratory is also focused on the world's top infectious killer, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis. This bacterium has begun to show broad resistance to a large number of anti-tuberculosis drugs, becoming one of the greatest challenges for public health worldwide. We investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which the bacteria evade the host immune system and create a protective niche in the human body.