Three researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in recognition of their scientific achievements and original contributions that have advanced the field of microbiology. The academy is an honorific leadership group within the American Society of Microbiology.
Shabaana Abdul Khader, PhD, professor of molecular microbiology, studies how the body responds to infection with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). She is working to develop vaccines against TB and is the primary holder of two patents for TB vaccine candidates and a third patent for a platform to screen potential vaccine candidates.
Fellow TB expert Jennifer Philips, MD, PhD, is associate professor of medicine and co-director of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Her work focuses on how TB bacteria evade the body’s immune defenses and cause disease, a key step in developing better drugs and vaccines to combat the lethal infection.
Mario Feldman, PhD, professor of molecular microbiology, studies how Acinetobacter, a multidrug-resistant bacterium most often acquired by hospitalized patients, causes disease. He also has cofounded the startup company VaxNewMo to develop vaccines against Acinetobacter and other bacteria based on the sugars on their surfaces.
