Eric Lafontaine

One component of my research program consists of identifying and characterizing surface antigens expressed by pathogenic bacteria including Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei. Given their cellular location at the host-pathogen interface, surface antigens play key roles in bacterial virulence. We believe that studying their biological functions will shed light on how the organisms cause disease and provide critical knowledge to develop medical countermeasures. Another component of my research program consists of developing animal models to study microbial pathogenesis, examine the role of surface antigens in bacterial virulence, and develop countermeasures against a variety of infectious agents including Burkholderia pseudomallei and mallei, pathogenic Brucella species, Moraxella catarrhalis, SARS-CoV2, and influenza.