Frederick M. Ausubel
 Professor of Genetics      
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Professor of Molecular Biology      
Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
50 Blossom Street, Wellman 10
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
Phone: (617)726-5950     FAX: (617)726-5949
Email: ausubel@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Alejandro Aballay, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Characterization of Virulence Factors Involved in S. typhimurium Infection Using a C. elegans - S. typhimurium Pathogenesis Model   I am using a Caenorhabditis elegans-Salmonella typhimurium pathogenesis model to carry out a systematic genetic analysis to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie [More...]
Email: aballay@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Tsuneaki Asai, Ph.D.
This is a picture of my protoplasts isolated from Arabidopsis. I'm interested in analyzing, at the single cell level, signal transduction mechanisms leading to plant defense responses such as cell death and defense gene induction. Protoplasts are a great tool for this kind of research. If you'd like to know more about protoplasts, please go to Dr. Jen Sheen's web site in our department.
Email: asai@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Jake Begun
I am a MD-PhD student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Harvard Medical School. I am interested in the mechanism of microbial pathogenesis and I am utilizing the C. elegans system developed in the Ausubel lab to study this phenomenon.
Email: jbegun@student.hms.harvard.edu

Jianping Cui
Research Interest: I am a graduate student of Pierce Lab in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Harvard University. I study insect/microbial pathogen interactions mediated by host plant defensive systems with a tritrophic system, Arabidopsis, Pseudomonas syringae, and Tricholusia ni. [More...]
Email: jcui@oeb.harvard.edu

Julia Dewdney, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Interactions between pathogens and individuals of a host species can be either compatible, in which case disease is established, or incompatible, wherein How plants defend themselves against disease is the focus of my research. recognition of the pathogen triggers a rapid and effective resistance response. Although disease ensues in a compatible interaction, the host plant [More...]
Email: dewdney@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Andrew Diener, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Fusarium oxysporum is a fungal pathogen of plants and animals, including humans. We are using an isolate of F. oxysporum that is pathogenic to the plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the wax moth caterpillar Galleria mellonella to identify fungal genes necessary for the pathogenesis of a plant,[More...]
Email: andrew_diener@hotmail.com

Eliana Drenkard, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most important pathogen in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Chronic colonization by this bacterial pathogen constitutes the major cause of morbidity and mortality in CF populations. Most importantly, P. aeruginosa infections generally persists despite the use of long-term antibiotic therapy, since antibiotic treatment rarely results in complete [More...]
Email: drenkard@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Simone Ferrari
Research Interest: Characterization of Arabidopsis Mutants with Altered Defensin Expression  Defensins are small antimicrobial polypeptides produced by both animals and plants after microbial infections. While other plant pathogenesis-related proteins (PR1, BGL2, PR5) are induced by salicyilic acid (SA), defensin expression is independent on SA but [More...]
Email: ferrari@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Danielle Garsin, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Gram-positive infections are among the most common in today's hospitals and antibiotic-resistance often makes these diseases difficult to treat. I am working on developing a Gram-positive pathogen-host model system using Enterococcus and C. elegans. I hypothesize that I can use such a system to identify virulence factors important to mammalian pathogenesis. I hope that such research will lead to better understanding of how these organisms cause disease.
Email: garsin@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Daniel Lee, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Mechanisms of P. aeruginosa Toxin-Mediated Killing The opportunistic human pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, simultaneously produces at least two classes of diffusible toxins that are important for causing mortality in mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans models. One class corresponds to a known molecule called pyocyanin whereas the other class remains unidentified. [More...]
Email: danlee@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Nicole Liberati, Ph.D.
Research Interest: With the completion of the entire Pseudomonas aeruginosa chromosome sequence, our understanding of bacterial virulence can now occur at the genomic level. To facilitate this level of understanding, I am constructing a P. aeruginosa unigene library that will consist of non-redundant transposon insertion mutants with a disruption in each [More...]
Email: liberati@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Sachiko Miyata
Research Interest: Using Galleria mellonella as a model host for P. aeruginosa strain PA14, we identified eleven virulence factors not previously isolated in screens using Arabidopsis or C. elegans. One of these factors is a key component of the type III secretion system, a known P. aeruginosa virulence determinant. Although this secretion system has been shown to be important for pathogenicity in [More...]
Email: miyata@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Joulia Plotnikova, Ph.D.
Research Interest: We developed a pathosystem consisting of an obligate biotroph , causal agent of powdery mildew and a necrotroph causing grey mold in Arabidopsis for analysis of resistance gene expression and search for new genes involved in host-pathogen interactions. We described new for Arabidopsis fungal pathogen Erysiphe orontii [More...]
Email: plotniko@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Costi D. Sifri, M.D.
Research Interest: The last 2 decades have witnessed the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in multiple Gram positive pathogens. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) are now endemic worldwide.[More...]
Email: sifri@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Julie Stone, Ph.D.
Research Interest: My work has concentrated on an effort to dissect the signal transduction pathways controlling programmed cell death (PCD) and to determine its role in plant defense against pathogens. We have developed a pathogen-free model system based on the response of [More...]
Email: stone@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Jacinto Villanueva, Ph.D.
Research Interest: The Ausubel lab has developed a system using model organisms as hosts for pathogen infection. Specifically, Arabidopsis thaliana and Caenorhabditis elegans are genetically tractable organisms that can be infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The utility of this system allows for the rapid screening for bacterial mutants attenuated in pathogenesis and subsequent identification of microbial virulence factors. In addition, host mutants can be isolated and further characterized with this system [More...]
Email: villanueva@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Mary Wildermuth, Ph.D.
Research Interest: The resistance or susceptibility of a host plant to a given pathogen is determined by a complex interplay of plant and pathogen factors. I am interested in elucidating these factors, the relevant signal transduction and regulatory pathways, and the resultant alterations in plant metabolism and physiology using Arabidopsis thaliana as a [More...]
Email: wildermu@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu