This research seeks to understand:

• How microbes take advantage of the host cell niche by manipulating cellular trafficking pathways. We use quantitative live cell imaging and other approaches on bacterial and eukaryotic pathogens such as Legionella, Listeria, Salmonella, and Toxoplasma.
• How viruses and other intracellular pathogens exploit host cells to facilitate cell invasion, reproduce, acquire nutrients, evade immune detection, spread to other cells, and regulate differentiation
• How host regulators of innate immunity respond to infection and other pathological conditions; triggers of host signaling that result in anti-microbial responses and release of inflammatory mediators
• Determine the effects of biochemical changes on the immune response and the role of chemical signals, such as calcium and NADPH, in live cells and tissues
• Eukaryotic cell cycle regulation and how human disease related proteins are modified during the cell cycle