Melanie M Pearson, PhD

I am a microbiologist by training, with specializations in bacterial genetics, molecular microbiology, Gram-negative bacteria, transcriptomics, and biofilm formation. I use these tools to study how bacteria cause human infectious diseases. My work over the last two decades focuses on the bacterial agents of urinary tract infections (UTIs). In particular, my interests center on uropathogenic Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis.

• Pathogenic mechanisms of bacterial uropathogen Proteus mirabilis
• Chaperone-usher fimbriae and bacterial adherence/invasion during UTI
• Bacterial nutrition and physiology during UTI
• MrpJ: fimbria-associated regulator that controls transcription of known and suspected virulence genes
• Fimbria-associated MrpJ paralogs that form a complex gene regulatory network for P. mirabilis and related species
• Role of innate immunity during UTI
• Uropathogenic Escherichia coli
• Complicated and catheter-associated urinary tract infection