Colorado State University
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Mycobacteria Research Laboratories
Fort Collins, Colorado USA
Member since 2016
photo by Allison A. Bauman (2019)
Representative
Gregory Robertson Ph.D., Lab Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor
Team
- Lisa Woolhiser
- Michelle Ramey
- Allison Bauman
- Jake Miller-Dawson
- Courtney Hastings
- Lisa Massoudi
About
The Mycobacteria Research Laboratories was founded some 25 years ago by Dr. Patrick J. Brennan and colleagues with the intent of generating an internationally recognized center of excellence for the study of mycobacterial diseases and pathogens. Since then, the MRL has been at the forefront of mycobacterial fundamental and translational research. Research programs in the MRL utilize state-of-the-art techniques and facilities to address:
- Tuberculosis vaccine and drug development
- Leprosy and tuberculosis diagnostics
- The study of nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases and Buruli ulcer
- The epidemiology and diagnostics of mycobacterial diseases affecting animals including bovine tuberculosis and Johne’s disease
Role & Expertise
My research team serves to advance in vivo mouse models to study early stage pre-clinical development of novel therapies or drug regimens for treatment of human tuberculosis. I have been involved with the TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA) program since 2015, wherein, we have led numerous in vivo efficacy trials in acute and chronic murine TB infection models.
Our expertise includes the use of in vitro and in vivo models to help advance pre-clinical development of novel therapies or drug regimens for treatment of human tuberculosis. With support of the TBDA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we have developed novel technologies that serve to advance our understanding of host-drug-pathogen interactions using murine TB efficacy models. These include new molecular pharmacodynamic markers that will accelerate pre-clinical drug development and human trials for tuberculosis (as the animal lead for the Consortium for Applied Microbial Metrics), digital image analysis of heterogeneous tuberculosis pulmonary pathology using deep convolutional neural networks, and advanced staining and imaging approaches along with conventional CFU burden type analyses to help advance more effective TB therapeutics.