How do microbes make you sick?

The Hiller lab addresses this question by examining microbial molecular mechanisms associated with disease. We study Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn), a major human pathogen that causes over a million annual deaths in young children and the elderly, worldwide. In its commensal form, it asymptomatically colonizes the human nasopharynx; in its pathogenic form, it disseminates to other tissues and causes mild or severe disease. Understanding how microbes switch from commensal coexistence to pathogenesis is fundamental to microbial ecology and disease etiology. 

The molecular basis of this switch is at the core of our research program.
To address this overarching question our work focuses on three interconnected areas: intra and inter-species cell-cell communication, adaptation to host environments, and genomic diversity and plasticity. 

Our studies have led to the characterization of multiple communication peptides and characterized their role in colonization or virulence. Current work is focused on how these signals are temporally coordinated and whether they lead to cooperation or competition across strain and species. Overall, our work is driven by two goals: to advance our understanding of molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and to leverage these fundamental insights in pursuit of novel antibacterial therapies and diagnostics.