The Microbiology, Pathogenesis and Epidemiology of Bacterial Enteric Diseases

My major interest is bacterial infections that continue to be a major public health problem in developed and developing countries. The major areas of research in our laboratory include the microbiology, pathogenesis and epidemiology of bacterial enteric diseases and more recently the role of the human microbiota. Our research focuses on the study of the gram negative bacteria Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori is among the most common bacteria that colonize humans. Nearly 50% of the world’s adult population carries this organism. Our interest in this bacterium is toward the characterization of the human immune response to major H. pylori antigens, and to understand the role of virulence factors of H. pylori associated with different clinical outcomes with and emphasis in diseases such as peptic ulcer disease and distal gastric carcinoma. We are working to understand interactions between H. pylori and distal gastric carcinoma. We understand that this is a multi-factorial process and we are study both bacteria and host factors that may contribute to the risk of development of this disease. Another area of interest in our current studies is to determine how H. pylori is acquired and to describe the early stages of the natural history of the colonization of children. These studies combine epidemiologic approaches with clinical and basic immunology, as well as using molecular probes and amplification techniques for analysis. Our most recent area of research is the isolation and identification of bacteria that are part of the normal flora in the skin and the changes in that normal flora as consequence of dermatological diseases. A particular interest is the study of Propionibacterium acnes that is an organism that is universally present in the skin of humans and it has been reported as an opportunistic organism in some diseases.