Despite the devastating global human toll of infectious diseases, we lack fundamental knowledge about the viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and insect vectors that cause and spread disease. This ignorance leaves us with very few opportunities to intervene in the cycle of infection and transmission, especially in the face of the emergence of new infectious diseases and the rapid rise in drug resistance. Our Genomic Center for Infectious Disease (GCID) develops and applies cutting-edge genomic technologies to address fundamental gaps in our knowledge of the basic biology that underlies the interactions between hosts, pathogens, and vectors. Our GCID is comprised of highly experienced managers with a history of working together effectively to develop and apply innovative genomic approaches. Our GCID employs industrial practices and management systems in directing the world-leading facilities of our Technology, Data and Administrative Cores. Outstanding scientists lead our four Research Projects, devoted to viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases and vectors that transmit them. Our collective work will target high priority pathogens and pathogen-host-vector systems that have a major impact on the global burden of disease. Each Research Project leverages our expertise in genomics, technology development, bioinformatics and computational biology, and with collaborating researchers and clinicians applies them to thoughtfully acquired samples and proven model systems. Moreover, the laboratory and analytical methods we develop will have broad applicability to other pathogen-host systems. Our Research Projects benefit from synergies arising from their shared space, approaches and tools, and together they will pursue three long-range, cross-cutting objectives: 1) Explore the genomic epidemiology of pathogens and vectors at individual and population scales; 2) Understand interactions among vertebrate hosts, pathogens, and arthropod vectors using genomic and transcriptomic approaches; and, 3) Define the functional basis of virulence, immunity, and the functional consequences of metagenomic diversity. By applying powerful new genomic technologies to probe host and pathogen contributions to infection processes we will obtain crucial knowledge, and open new avenues for tracking, preventing and managing infectious diseases. We will produce and disseminate data, methodologies, and expertise, broaden participation in genomic research into infectious disease, and generate data and knowledge that will enable a wide community to benefit from our expertise, and, ultimately improve global public health.
Our limited knowledge of the individual organisms responsible for infectious diseases, and the way they interact with the hosts they infect, and the insects that transmit them, prevents us from better managing the staggering global burden of these diseases. We will focus on defining the genes and genomes of these organisms, and how these genes influence disease and drug resistance. We will use collaborative approaches and powerful new laboratory and analytical techniques to study diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites to develop new ways to diagnose, prevent and treat them.
| Rhodes, Johanna; Abdolrasouli, Alireza; Farrer, Rhys A et al. (2018) Genomic epidemiology of the UK outbreak of the emerging human fungal pathogen Candida auris. Emerg Microbes Infect 7:43 |
| Sephton-Clark, Poppy C S; Muñoz, Jose F; Ballou, Elizabeth R et al. (2018) Pathways of Pathogenicity: Transcriptional Stages of Germination in the Fatal Fungal Pathogen Rhizopus delemar. mSphere 3: |
| Ene, Iuliana V; Farrer, Rhys A; Hirakawa, Matthew P et al. (2018) Global analysis of mutations driving microevolution of a heterozygous diploid fungal pathogen. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:E8688-E8697 |
| Siddle, Katherine J; Eromon, Philomena; Barnes, Kayla G et al. (2018) Genomic Analysis of Lassa Virus during an Increase in Cases in Nigeria in 2018. N Engl J Med 379:1745-1753 |
| Brennan-Krohn, Thea; Pironti, Alejandro; Kirby, James E (2018) Synergistic Activity of Colistin-Containing Combinations against Colistin-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 62: |
| Messina, Julia A; Wolfe, Cameron R; Hemmersbach-Miller, Marion et al. (2018) Genomic characterization of recurrent mold infections in thoracic transplant recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 20:e12935 |
| Schaffner, Stephen F; Taylor, Aimee R; Wong, Wesley et al. (2018) hmmIBD: software to infer pairwise identity by descent between haploid genotypes. Malar J 17:196 |
| Farrer, Rhys A; Ford, Christopher B; Rhodes, Johanna et al. (2018) Transcriptional Heterogeneity of Cryptococcus gattii VGII Compared with Non-VGII Lineages Underpins Key Pathogenicity Pathways. mSphere 3: |
| Myhrvold, Cameron; Freije, Catherine A; Gootenberg, Jonathan S et al. (2018) Field-deployable viral diagnostics using CRISPR-Cas13. Science 360:444-448 |
| Cuomo, Christina A; Rhodes, Johanna; Desjardins, Christopher A (2018) Advances in Cryptococcus genomics: insights into the evolution of pathogenesis. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 113:e170473 |
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