Molecular Microbiology

Perhaps the best-known achievement of this Department was attained during World War II, with the establishment of purification protocols for, and therapeutic usage of penicillin. For this work, Profs. H. W. Florey and E. B. Chain were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945, along with Prof. A. Fleming from St. Mary’s Hospital in London, who discovered the compound shortly after World War I. Subsequently, Prof. E. P. Abraham and Dr. G. F. Newton identified and patented cephalosporin antibiotics, which are structurally related to penicillins. Together these two families of compounds represent over 60% of all antibiotics clinically administered today. Presently, the Department has gathered together microbiologists studying viruses, archaea, bacteria and protozoan parasites at every level, whether genomic, molecular or cellular.

ResearcherEva Gluenz
Cell biology of Leishmania; role of the flagellum in host-parasite interactions
ResearcherKeith Gull
Aspects of the pathogenicity of African trypanosomes and inherited ciliary diseases of humans.
ResearcherWilliam James
HIV-Macrophage interactions and stem cell technology
ResearcherSusan Lea
Host-pathogen interactions including the Complement system, bacterial adhesion, type III and tat secretion systems and picornaviral-receptor interactions.
ResearcherQuentin Sattentau
Retroviral Immunology.
ResearcherChristoph Tang
Pathogenesis and Prevention of Bacterial Meningitis