Research

We have two areas of research: Glycoimmunology and Microbial Glycobiology

Glycoimmunology: Every cell in the human body is covered with a layer of sugars that are crucial for human health. The cells of the immune system rely on these sugars to identify healthy cells as well as those that are malfunctioning (like cancer cells) or pathogenic (like bacteria and viruses). We study how these sugars are different in males and females and how they contribute to human health. We are also investigating what happens when these sugars stop functioning properly in diseases like cancer and autoimmune disease.

Microbial Glycobiology: Post-translational modifications allow cells to dynamically regulate their responses to external stimuli in seconds. Bacterial protein glycosylation is one such modification that is required for growth and virulence. We want to understand how bacterial protein glycosylation contributes to cellular homeostasis and environmental sensing in bacteria associated with the microbiome.