Investigator Infectious Disease, Mass General Research Institute

Instructor in Medicine Harvard Medical School

Ph.D. University of Paris XI - Orsay Center and Chatenay-Malabry Center, France 1996

anti-bacterial agents; efflux pumps and transporters; genes regulator; microbial interaction; microbial regulation; multidrug resistance-associated proteins; staphylococcus aureus Our research involves Staphylococcus aureus multidrug (MDR) efflux pumps causing resistance to antibiotics and antibacterial compounds. The core study has been focusing on the regulation of S. aureus efflux pumps and transporters under exposure to various environmental factors including antibiotics and toxic compounds, as well as their roles in persister cell formation in chronic infections. We are invested in the study of how efflux pumps can act as a defense mechanism of S. aureus to counter P. aeruginosa killing in the event of a coinfection. In this direction, our team have been investigating the connection between the secreted toxins of P. aeruginosa and the MDR efflux pump of S. aureus. Our study offers information that would open new possibilities to improve antibiotic treatments of patients with chronic lung and wound infections and will offer insights into developing novel inhibitors that target both S. aureus and P. aeruginosa factors.