Barbara Byrne
VM:PMI
The Byrne laboratory focuses on the pathogenesis of bacterial infections in
animals and the interactions between the host and pathogen. We have four research
areas:
- The primary organism we study is Rhodococcus equi , a pulmonary
pathogen of foals that causes severe pneumonia. Our long term goals are to
understand how R. equi survives within the host and development
of effective vaccination and treatments for this disease. The current focus
is on virulence proteins of R. equi and how they interact with
macrophages and influence the immune response.
- Clinical microbiology and antimicrobial resistance.
- Understanding the microbial community structure in the gastrointestinal
tract of horses in health and disease using molecular biology techniques.
- Evaluation of the marine health by detection of pathogens in marine
mammals, their food sources, and the marine environment and appraisal of
their connection with terrestrial sources.
Some possible project areas:
- Examination of the foal's immune response to an R. equi sub-unit
vaccine
- Evaluation of the correlation between anti- R. equi antibody
titers and protection from infectious challenge following vaccination in
mice
- Determination of the genetic relatedness of antibiotic resistant bacterial
isolates from cases in the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital
- Detection and characterization of zoonotic pathogens in the marine environment
- Evaluation of changes in fecal flora of horses that develop diarrhea during
hospitalization.
Please contact Dr. Byrne at bbyrne@ucdavis.edu for further information.
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