Maria Hadjifrangiskou, PhD

Dr. Hadjifrangiskou is a bacterial geneticist in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is an Assistant Professor with a broad interest in bacterial cell signaling and how bacterial perception of the environment shapes/influences bacterial behavior and pathogenesis. Her lab studies Gram-negative bacteria that cause urinary tract infections. Dr. H. received her B.S. in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and performed her Ph.D. thesis work at the University of Texas – Health Science Center/M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. H. performed her post-doctoral training in the department of Molecular Microbiology & Microbial Pathogenesis at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. Dr. H. welcomes collaborations in the area of maternal-fetal health. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), one of the bacterial pathogens studied by Dr. H’s group, causes the majority of urinary tract infections and, in the case of pregnant women, infection elevates the risk for an ascending kidney infection and possibly sepsis. E. coli has also been isolated from cases of chorioamnionitis; Dr. H. would be interested in becoming involved in efforts to understand the basis of and the contribution of inter-bacterial interactions during polymicrobial infections leading to chorioamnionitis.