Research

My research aims to find new ways to prevent and cure important bacterial infections. To this end, I study the molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions and host-adaptation of bacterial infections to identify novel virulence mechanism and develop these into suitable antimicrobial targets. I am particularly interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of the link between pathogen in vivo metabolism and virulence, and how metabolic status affects disease progression, with a potential for identifying novel pathogen-specific targets for treatment of bacterial infections. To this end, I am employing the human pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium as a model for both intestinal and systemic infections of a mouse model. In relation to this, I have in recent studies, characterized the essential metabolic capacity of Salmonella for successful infections and identified several metabolic pathways that are essential for virulence of Salmonella. In a current study, I have isolated a strain of Salmonella that has adapted to the systemic environment during persistent infections. Using Whole Genome Sequencing, I have identified novel metabolic enzymes that are essential for chronic Salmonella infections.