Research

Diarrheal diseases are a significant cause of global morbidity and mortality with a projected 4.48 billion annual cases and 1.66 million deaths. Many of these cases are due to gastrointestinal infection by a variety of bacterial, eukaryotic, and viral pathogens. One of the leading causes of these infections are bacteria from the genus Campylobacter, which cause an estimated 172 million infections every year and 75,000 fatalities. In the developing world, these bacteria are thought to be acquired from contaminated water and cause brief bouts of mild diarrhea in adults, but can persistently colonize pediatric patients and lead to the development of a gastrointestinal disorder called environmental enteric dysfunction (EED). EED subsequently results in a reduced ability to acquire nutrients from food, which leads to decreased growth and cognitive development of these pediatric patients. In the developed world, Campylobacter species often infect patients after consuming undercooked meat, including beef and poultry, where it can colonize the lower gastrointestinal tract and cause severe intestinal inflammation and diarrhea. While these infections are believed to often resolve without incident, recent studies have provided evidence that a variety of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders can occur following infection with Campylobacter. Importantly, despite these impacts on global health, Campylobacter species are understudied and there is relatively little known about how the bacteria persist within agricultural and environmental sources of infection, how the bacteria colonize the human gastrointestinal tract, what the outcomes are of Campylobacter interacting with the human immune system, and how this colonization and immune activation impact the health of gastrointestinal and extraintestinal tissues. Because of these gaps in knowledge, my group seeks to obtain novel insights in each of these areas so that it can be leveraged to either reduce the incidence of human infection or decrease the severity of disease.

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