Alan R Hauser, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Microbiology/Immunology and Medicine
Feinberg School of Medicine

Research Interests:
P. aeruginosa is a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that causes a variety of disease manifestations in humans. Although many putative P. aeruginosa virulence factors have been identified, much remains unclear regarding the mechanism by which this bacterium colonizes, invades, and disseminates within its host.

The laboratory of Dr. Hauser investigates the role of the P. aeruginosa type III secretion system in virulence. Type III secretion pathways form needle-like apparatuses that actually inject toxins directly into the cytoplasm of host cells. They use genetic approaches to understand the role of these toxins in disease. For example, appropriate bacterial strains are generated to compare both loss of function and gain of function toxin mutants with wild-type strains. These mutants allow him and his researchers to discern interactions of secreted toxins with the host and the consequences of these interactions. Genetic screens are also employed to identify novel type-III-secreted proteins. The common theme is to better understand the role of P. aeruginosa type-III-secreted toxins in disease. Such knowledge will lead to novel therapeutic approaches to P. aeruginosa infections. In addition, these bacterial factors may prove to be powerful tools useful in the dissection of eukaryotic cell signaling pathways.