CHoMI News and Events

Kutsch receives German Research Foundation (DFG) fellowship. Congratulations to Miriam Kutsch, postdoc in the Coers lab, on being awarded this fellowship. The 2-year DFG research fellowship is intended to support German early career scientists conducting innovative research at an international institution. Miriam’s research aims to understand an immune defense program directed at bacteria entering the host cell cytosol of human cells. In her research, she applies innovative biochemical and cell biological approaches to determine how the human defense protein GBP1 catches and conquers bacterial invaders.

5th DIIG Annual Symposium of Innate Immunity, Inflammation and Diseases

Registration is now open for the 5th DIIG Annual Symposium of Innate Immunity, Inflammation and Diseases. The scientific program includes four featured presentations by Drs. Alan Sher, Maria Abreu, Smita Nair and Edward Miao. Please register for free and submit an abstract at https://goo.gl/forms/sD8s2BcpCP45QyD52 by April 30th, 2019

Please click here to download flyer.

Bastidas research featured in Duke Today.  Robert Bastidas, PhD, Assistant Research Professor in the laboratory of Raphael Valdivia, PhD, was featured in a Duke Today article titled, “Chlamydia attacks with Frankenstein Protein.”  In partnership with Jonathan Pruneda, Assistant Professor at Oregon Health & Science University and several other researchers, Robert has shown that one Chlamydia protein, known as ChlaDUB1, is capable of manipulating human cells in two different ways, with one appearing to be essential for thriving inside the host.  To read more, click here. To read the full manuscript, click here.

CHoMI awards 6 new Mitchell Meritorious Research Travel Awards 

The Duke University Center for Host-Microbial Interactions (CHoMI) travel grants support students or post-doctoral fellows to attend national and international scientific meetings.

Innate Immunity and Inflammation (III) Study Section at NIH

Dr. Shinohara has been selected to be a study section member of the Innate Immunity and Inflammation (III) Study Section at NIH. Study section members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors. Study sections review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on these applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in their fields of science. These functions are of great value to medical and allied research in this country.

New Vaccine Production Could Improve Flu Shot Accuracy

For decades, vaccine manufacturers have used chicken eggs to grow the flu virus strains included in the seasonal flu shot. But because these human strains frequently mutate to adapt to their new environment in eggs, the resulting vaccine is often an imperfect match to the actual virus that it is supposed to protect against. Duke researchers have devised a way to keep the human influenza virus from mutating during production, generating a perfect match to the target vaccine in a shorter time frame.

Investigational vaccine protected monkeys from HIV-like virus

Building on insights from an HIV vaccine regimen in humans that had partial success during a phase 3 clinical trial in Thailand, a Duke research team led by Dr. Haynes used a more-is-better approach in monkeys that appeared to improve vaccine protection from an HIV-like virus.

CHoMI awards 9 new Mitchell Meritorious Research Travel Awards

The Duke University Center for Host-Microbial Interactions (CHoMI) travel grants support students or post-doctoral fellows to attend national and international scientific meetings.

Cancer-Causing Virus Masters Cell’s Replication and Immortality. Epstein-Barr virus steers the B-cell to hide in plain sight

In a paper appearing in the open access journal eLife, a team of researchers from Duke’s School of Medicine and CHoMI details just how the Epstein-Barr virus manages to persist so well inside the immune system’s B cells, a type of white blood cell that is normally responsible for recognizing and responding to foreign invaders.

Aballay and Valdivia elected fellows of American Academy of Microbiology

Professors of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Alejandro Aballay, PhD and Raphael Valdivia, PhD, were recently elected as fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology, an honorific leadership group within American Society of Microbiology.

CHoMI awards 11 new Mitchell Meritorious Research Travel Awards

The Duke University Center for Host-Microbial Interactions (CHoMI) travel grants support students or post-doctoral fellows to attend national and international scientific meetings.

Lawrence David named one of Science News’ Ten Scientists to Watch

Lawrence David, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology was named one of Science News “10 Scientists to Watch” because of his extensive research of the microbiome. His lab works to understand, predict, and manipulate how human microbiota behave over time.

Targeting the Gut-Brain Connection Can Impact Immunity

There’s a reason it’s called a gut feeling. The brain and the gut are connected by intricate neural networks that signal hunger and satiety, love and fear, even safety and danger. These networks employ myriad chemical signals that include dopamine, a powerful neurotransmitter most famous for its role in reward and addiction. Duke University researchers have shown that manipulating dopamine signaling in the nervous system of the nematode worm C. elegans can control inflammation in the gut.

A Little Dirt Won’t Hurt: Duke researchers find our immune systems could benefit from a few more germs

Plumbing, sanitation, and antibiotics have saved lives, but maybe we took things a little too far. The modern maladies of autoimmune disease and allergy in humans can be traced back to the modern assault on the microbial community.

Fungal Pathogen sheds gene silencing machinery to become more dangerous

A potentially deadly fungus called Cryptococcus deuterogatti tossed aside over a dozen different genes on its way to becoming a new, more virulent species. Duke researchers have found that most of the discarded genes play a part in RNA interference or RNAi, a defense mechanism employed by fungi and other organisms to protect the integrity of their genomes. The study was published March 4 in PLOS Genetics.

Floyd Wormley elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology

Dr. Wormley, former postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. John Perfect, will be recognized at the Academy Fellows Reception at ASM Microbe in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 17th. The award recognizes excellence, originality, and leadership in the microbiological sciences.

Steinbach wins top award from American Federation of Medical Research (AFMR)

William J. Steinbach, MD, professor of pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, will receive the American Federation for Medical Research’s (AFMR) highest honor for medical research, the Outstanding Investigator Award.

Drug shows promise for controlling Epstein-Barr Virus

Duke researchers have shown that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) uses autophagy as a means to compensate for metabolic stress to transform primary human B cells. According to new findings that appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, disrupting cell’s supply chain freezes the virus.

Infertile Worms Resist Infection-Induced Neurodegeneration

Duke researchers have shown that infection with pathogenic bacteria causes neurodegeneration in the worm. Infected animals displayed neural changes that are hallmarks of neurodegeneration in patients with illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease.

One step closer to a vaccine for cytomegalovirus: Monkeys transmit CMV the same way as humans

Researchers at Duke and Tulane take the lead, the National Primate Research Centers provide critical resources and expertise in this first-ever proof of CMV placental transmission in nonhuman primates.

Molecular ‘Kiss Of Death’ Flags Pathogens For Destruction

The body uses a molecule called ubiquitin, here shown in red inside the box, to tag little pockets of pathogen, called vacuoles, as they bloom on the surface of a cell. The vacuole in this image is full of Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacteria which cause a common sexually transmitted infection, but the ubiquitin molecules have marked the vacuole for destruction by the immune system.

Inaugural Symposium on Host-Microbial Interactions

Please join us for a symposium at Duke University November 20, 2015 focusing on host-microbial interactions.

Bladder cells regurgitate bacteria to prevent UTIs

Bladder cells have a highly effective way to combat E. coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs), researchers have found. They do to the bacteria what we could do to having indigestion problems: vomiting to rid the stomach of harmful substances.

Cell’s Recycling Team Helps Sound Alarm on Pathogens

Just as households have recycling bins for getting rid of waste, the cell has its own system for cleaning up defunct components.

Antifungal Drug Development Summit

Please join us for a summit at Duke University January 29-30, 2015 focusing on multi-disciplinary and complementary approaches to anti-fungal therapy development spanning academia and pharma.

Drugs to Block Angiogenesis Could Provide New Treatment for TB

Duke researchers’ findings suggest a new therapeutic approach that might target the body’s response to tuberculosis (TB).

Scientists Identify Gene Required for Recovery From Bacterial Infection

Duke researchers have uncovered the genes that are normally activated during recovery from bacterial infection in the worm. The finding could be key to new antibiotics and countering auto-immune disorders.

New Insights on an Ancient Plague Could Improve Treatments for Infections

Dangerous new pathogens such as the Ebola virus invoke scary scenarios of deadly epidemics, but even ancient scourges such as the bubonic plague are still providing researchers with new insights on how the body responds to infections.

AOA Medical Honor Society Members Named

Twice a year the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society elects a small number of new members. Membership in AOA is a distinction that accompanies a physician throughout his or her career.

Fungus Deadly to AIDS Patients Found to Grow on Trees

Researchers have pinpointed the environmental source of fungal infections that have been sickening HIV/AIDS patients in Southern California for decades. It literally grows on trees.

Scientists Discover New Mechanism of Drug Resistance

Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi can evade treatment by acquiring mutations in the genes targeted by antibiotics or antifungal drugs.

Recalled Yogurt Contained Highly Pathogenic Mold

Samples isolated from recalled Chobani yogurt have been found to contain the most virulent form of a fungus called
Mucor circinelloides, which is associated with infections in immune-compromised people.

Deadly Human Pathogen Cryptococccus neoformans Fully Sequenced

Duke researchers have sequenced the entire genome and all the RNA products of the most important pathogenic lineage of
Cryptococcus neoformans, a strain called H99.

Heitman Receives F1000Prime Faculty Member of the Year Award

Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, James B. Duke Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University, has received a 2013 F1000Prime Faculty Member of the Year Award.