On May 16, 2024, the Regents of the University of Michigan promoted Melanie Pearson, Ph.D., to Associate Professor on the Research Track, effective September 1, 2024. 

Dr. Pearson's research focuses on the bacterial pathogen Proteus mirabilis, a major contributor to complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) worldwide.

As a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Michigan M&I Mobley Lab, Dr. Pearson led the analysis of the first genome sequence of P. mirabilis, which resulted in the discovery of several disease-relevant features, including a type III secretion system, fimbrial operons, and MrpJ-type transcriptional regulators. She demonstrated that both adherence and urease activity are necessary for P. mirabilis onset of infection, providing the first concrete studies into the initial steps of infection.

Pearson received a K22 from NIAID and was an assistant professor at New York University where she continued to study P. mirabilis. Her group produced several primary papers on the regulation of Proteus flagellar expression by the MrpJ network and the transcriptional regulator AtfJ, as well as on the nucleation of Proteus-infected stones in the urinary bladder.

After returning to the University of Michigan in 2016, she tailored new genetic methods for studying P. mirabilis, allowing for faster and more reliable mutagenesis. She adapted a programmable intron technique to make specific insertions into the P. mirabilis chromosome, including several mutations and deletions. She further built a custom P. mirabilis microarray for transcription analysis, and she has contributed to collaborations in bladder cell biology, crystallography and protein modeling to explore additional P. mirabilis pathogenesis questions from different perspectives. This body of work has been foundational for an R01 grant for which she is Co-PI with Dr. Mobley. 

Pearson's protocols are being used widely. Several lines of investigation at multiple institutions use Pearson’s principles to expand on P. mirabilis research about its interactions with its environment.

In M&I, Pearson also serves as a small group leader for Principles of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, a core course for medical students. She has been a thoughtful and careful reviewer of student seminars (M&I required Microbio 812 course for Master's and doctoral students), and she has served as instructor for the M&I Microbial Pathogenesis graduate level course. She has mentored eight postdoctoral fellows as well as several undergraduate and graduate students.

Congratulations, Dr. Pearson!