Jared R. Mayers, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of Washington

Building tools to decipher microbial metabolism in human disease

The human body harbors more microbial cells than eukaryotic ones and microbial metabolism directly shapes human health and disease. Identifying the specific microbial metabolic activities that drive pathophysiology in patients, however, remains difficult given our reliance on simplified model systems. The Mayers lab addresses this challenge by building interdisciplinary workflows, combining in vivo multi-omics, biochemistry, genetics, and chemical biology, to define the metabolic “rules of the game” that allow microbes to survive and cause disease in complex host environments. We pursue this through two distinct areas of interest. The first is severe infections such as bloodstream infections and pneumonia, where we are especially focused on antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Our second focus is on developing tools to study the lung microbiome in chronic lung disease, where shifts in microbial community metabolism may contribute to disease progression. Across both areas, our goal is to uncover microbial metabolic activities in patient samples and then mechanistically dissect their roles, revealing new insight into disease biology and new opportunities for clinical intervention.

Host: Dr. Jonathan Stefely

This event is part of the Morgridge Metabolism Colloquium.