Joseph Dillard
Credentials: Medical Microbiology & Immunology Department
Position title: Bacterial pathogenesis
Email: jpdillard@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 265-2837
Address:
4157 Microbial Sciences Building
1550 Linden Dr
Madison, WI 53706
LAB WEBSITE:
https://mmi.wisc.edu/staff/dillard-joseph-joe/
FOCUS GROUPS:
Cellular & Molecular Metabolism; Molecular & Genome Biology of Microbes
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION:
The bacterial species Neisseria gonorrhoeae releases small fragments of cell wall during growth in the human host, and these molecules induce an inflammatory response that is responsible for much of the host tissue damage characteristic of gonococcal diseases. We study the genes and enzymes responsible for cell wall breakdown, modification, and release as well as the host cell responses particularly in the human Fallopian tube. Gonococci undergo a large degree of genetic variation through natural transformation. We study the secretion system that supplies DNA for transformation and the consequences of DNA transfer.
ALSO A TRAINER IN THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS: Microbiology Doctoral Training Program (MDTP)