Biomedical Sciences

The long-term goal of my research program is to develop strategies to inactivate Clostridium spores and to control Clostridium-mediated diseases. We mainly focus our work on spores of C. perfringens (Cp) causing Cp food poisoning, which currently ranks as the third most commonly reported food-borne disease in the USA. Cp also causes non-food-borne gastrointestinal (GI) diseases in humans and GI diseases in domestic animals. Specifically, we investigate the molecular mechanisms of Cp: i) spore heat resistance; ii) spore germination; iii) spore-host interactions; and iv) spore inactivation.