My work is focused on understanding how pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus trigger and utilize inflammatory mechanisms in the host to promote its lifecycle. I am particularly interested in pro-inflammatory toxins such as the superantigens, which target T cells and can force their activation. I utilize a range of bacteriological, immunological, and biochemical techniques to assess how toxins like these can attack their targets and what the impact of the resulting downstream inflammation is for both the host and the bacteria.
