Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of community and hospital-acquired infections, and it is our lab’s core mission to understand the genetic networks this bacteria utilizes that makes it so virulent to people and increasingly resistant to all useful antimicrobial therapies.
We use a variety of methods to study the pathogenesis and virulence of S. aureus, ranging from the classical techniques of microbiology to more modern analyses that focus directly on the microorganism’s protein, nucleic acid, and membrane components. We also typically employ confocal and electron microscopy to closely examine individual cells of S. aureus.
Together, these techniques create a useful and productive approach to elucidating the molecular basis of S. aureus pathogenesis, as well as a robust learning experience for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows alike.