Microbial Pathogenesis

The Microbial Pathogenesis Research Unit seeks to understand at the molecular level how pathogenic bacteria grow when adhering to the surface of medical devices and tissues, leading to infections that are resistant to antibiotics and therefore tend to become chronic. In order to understand this form of bacterial growth, known as biofilm, genetic engineering strategies are used, along with omics approaches, synthetic biology and animal models.
The ultimate goal is to identify the critical elements in biofilm formation in order to prevent biofilm from forming, eliminate already formed biofilm, improve existing treatments and favouring the formation of non-pathogenic bacteria biofilm for therapeutic purposes.

Lines of research:

• Signal transduction mechanisms in bacteria.
• Growth of bacteria with therapeutic purposes and identification of new targets for infection treatment.
• Study of bacterial adhesion to abiotic surfaces (implants) and tissues.