Michele Swanson, PhD

 swanson-michele
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Director of Postdoctoral Studies
Medical School
[email protected]
Available to mentor
Michele Swanson, PhD
swanson-michele
Professor
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  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications

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    • About

    Michele Swanson is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Studies at the University of Michigan Medical School.

    Links
    • linkedin

    Qualifications
    • Postdoctoral Fellow
      Tufts Medical Center and HHMI, Boston, United States
    • B.S., Biology
      Yale University, New Haven, United States
    • M.S., Genetics
      Columbia University, New York, United States
    • Ph.D., Genetics
      Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States

    Research Overview

    In addition to exploiting the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila as a genetic probe of macrophage function, the Swanson lab has investigated how metabolic cues govern the microbe’s resilience in the environment and virulence in phagocytes. Swanson also contributed to an interdisciplinary team that investigated the impact of changes in the chemistry of the municipal water supply in Flint, Michigan on their 2014-2015 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Dr. Swanson was a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine committee on Management of Legionella in Water Systems and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

    Recent Publications

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    • Preprint
      Molecular Basis of Histone H3 Reading and Writing by Legionella pneumophila SET Domain Lysine Methyltransferases
      Gonzalez S, Knight T, Nevarez JM, Evans AH, Daniels KM, Xu E, Vaidya A, Burg JM, Adeleke OA, Daraeikia S, Gopinath S, Yamine M, Yacoub M, An S, Madison E, Fontaine J-M, Swanson M, Keogh M-C, Trievel RC. 2026 Jun 1; bioRxiv, DOI:10.64898/2026.05.29.728679
    • Journal Article
      Cryo-EM Reveals New Species-specific Proteins and Symmetry Elements in the Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm T4SS
      Roberts J, Sheedlo MJ, Durie CL, Chung JM, Chang L, Swanson M, Lacy DB, Ohi MD. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2022 Jul 23; 28 (S1): 1134 - 1135. DOI:10.1017/s1431927622004767
    • Journal Article
      Structural analysis of Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm type IV secretion system core complex
      Durie C, Sheedlo M, Swanson M, Lacy DB, Ohi M. Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and advances, 2022 Sep 16; 78 (a1): a5 - a5. DOI:10.1107/s2053273322099946
    • Journal Article
      A "Fluid" Diagnosis
      Albin O, Mills JP, Saint S, Swanson M, Deng JC. New England Journal of Medicine, 2021 Dec 2; 385 (23): 2180 - 2185. DOI:10.1056/NEJMcps2108991
    • Journal Article
      Cryo-em reveals new species-specific proteins and symmetry elements in the legionella pneumophila dot/icm t4ss
      Sheedlo MJ, Durie CL, Chung JM, Chang L, Roberts J, Swanson M, Lacy DB, Ohi MD. Elife, 2021 Sep 1; 10: DOI:10.7554/eLife.70427
      PMID: 34519271
    • Journal Article
      Functional characterization of the HMP-P synthase of Legionella pneumophila (Lpg1565)
      Paxhia MD, Swanson MS, Downs DM. Molecular Microbiology, 2021 Apr 1; 115 (4): 539 - 553. DOI:10.1111/mmi.14622
      PMID: 33034117
    • Preprint
      Cryo-EM reveals new species-specific proteins and symmetry elements in the Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm T4SS
      Sheedlo M, Durie C, Chung JM, Chang L, Swanson M, Borden Lacy D, Ohi M. 2021 Jun 20; bioRxiv, DOI:10.1101/2021.06.18.449039
    • Journal Article
      Structural analysis of the legionella pneumophila dot/icm type iv secretion system core complex
      Durie CL, Sheedlo MJ, Chung JM, Byrne BG, Su M, Knight T, Swanson M, Lacy DB, Ohi MD. Elife, 2020 Sep 1; 9: 1 - 23. DOI:10.7554/ELIFE.59530
      PMID: 32876045