Nelson Lab

The lab of David E. Nelson, PhD is focused on chlamydial pathogenesis, microbiome pathogen interactions and pathogen discovery.

Active Research

The Nelson laboratory works in two distinct but sometimes overlapping areas of microbial pathogenesis. One focus is utilization of emerging genetic tools to identify virulence factors that dictate how genetically similar intracellular pathogens in the genus Chlamydia infect different tissues, evade local and systemic immunity and cause distinct disease states. Long-term goals of this project are identification of suitable antigens for use in recombinant anti-chlamydial vaccines and generation and testing of live-attenuated anti-chlamydial vaccines.

The second major focus of the laboratory is discovery of novel urogenital tract pathogens and disease syndromes. This project utilizes cutting-edge metagenomic approaches to identify disease-associated microorganisms in patients with idiopathic urogenital tract disease.

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Research Funding

Genetic Analysis of Mechanisms of Chlamydial Immune Evasion. NIH/NIAID.
2R56AI099278-06.

The Role of the Urethral Microbiome in Idiopathic Urethritis in Men. NIH/NIAID.
5R01AI116706-02.

Recent Publications

Brothwell JA, Muramatsu MK, Zhong G, Nelson DE. Advances and Obstacles in the Genetic Dissection of Chlamydial Virulence. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2017 Nov 1.

Shao L, Zhang T, Melero J, Huang Y, Liu Y, Liu Q, He C, Nelson DE, Zhong G. The genital tract virulence factor pGP3 is essential for Chlamydia muridarum colonization in the gastrointestinal tract. Infect Immun. 2017. IAI.00429-17.

Tzeng YL, Bazan JA, Turner AN, Wang X, Retchless AC, Read TD, Toh E, Nelson DE, Del Rio C, Stephens DS. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017. Emergence of a new Neisseria meningitidis clonal complex 11 lineage 11.2 clade as an effective urogenital pathogen. 114(16):4237-4242.

Toh E, Gangaiah D, Batteiger BE, Williams JA, Arno JN, Tai A, Batteiger TA, Nelson DE. Neisseria meningitidis ST11 Complex Isolates Associated with Nongonococcal Urethritis, Indiana, USA, 2015-2016. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017. 23(2):336-339.

Faculty Research Team

David E. Nelson, PhD

Professor of Microbiology & Immunology

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Additional Research Team Members

Other research team members in the Nelson Lab include Amanda Giebel, PhD (Post-doctoral Fellow), Yuan Sun, PhD (Post-doctoral Fellow), Evelyn Toh, PhD (Senior Research Associate) and Xiaoli Zhang (Research Associate).