Rachel Ende
I am broadly interested in how pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria interact with their human host during infection. Currently, my research is focused on the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae. In recent years, K. pneumoniae has become a serious threat to public health due to increases in multi-drug resistant (MDR) infections. These infections are extremely difficult to treat because the bacteria are now resistant to the antibiotics doctors would typically use to clear the infection. In my lab, I am investigating the effectiveness of combining multiple antibiotics, rather than just one, to treat these resistant infections. I want to understand which antibiotic combinations are most effective against K. pneumoniae. Additionally, because K. pneumoniae can infect multiple environments (lungs, bladder, liver, and bloodstream, etc.), I also want to determine if the antibiotic combinations will work differently in these different environments. Projects in my lab will use a variety of microbiological, molecular, and microscopy-based techniques with the overall goal of understanding how antibiotic combinations impact K. pneumoniae growth in a variety of growth environments.
Education
- Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Virginia, 2022
- B.A., Biology; Psychology minor, Illinois Wesleyan University, 2016
Academic Expertise
- Microbiology
Additional Information
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2022-2025, Tufts University