The Big Picture

Describing infectious disease through infection strategies, or modes of virulence, captured through transcriptomics and analyzed via ML is the focus of my research

Infectious disease is increasingly being recognized as the result of a complex, evolving interaction between host and microbe. At each step, the microbe must both sense and adapt to an ever-changing microenvironment to ensure the survival and proliferation of the organism. I study this host-pathogen interaction in the context of Staphylococcus aureus skin infection in a murine mouse model. Currently, I am using transcriptomics and genomics tools to characterize these temporal developments in staphylococcal disease in terms of 'modes of virulence,' or gene and gene networks acting synergistically to overcome specific challenges faced by the organism. These modes can be elucidated through machine learning (ML) methods.