The Vanderbilt Tuberculosis Center is fortunate be joined by Drs. Robert "Robbie" Watson and Kristin Patrick. They join us from Texas A&M, bringing with them considerable expertise and stellar labs focused on basic science and macrophage innate immune response is regulated during bacterial infection
Here are some details regarding their labs:
The Watson lab studies the Mycobacterium tuberculosis host-pathogen interface, and is particularly focused how Mtb cytosolic access and mitochondrial homeostasis impact bacterial pathogenesis in macrophages ex vivo and in mouse models of infection.
The Patrick lab studies the contributions of RNA binding proteins to macrophage activation and how post-transcriptional regulation of innate immune gene expression (mostly at the level of pre-mRNA splicing) impacts infection outcomes.
We look forward to their continued contributions toward TB elimination and coordinating with them on future projects.
