Research Description

Dr. Ibrahim’s research focuses on advancing the understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and virulence factors of fungal and bacterial infections, and on translating this knowledge into novel immunotherapeutic strategies to combat infectious diseases. His research is focused on the following areas:

1) The host-pathogen interactions and pathogenesis of mucormycosis and development of rapid diagnostics and novel antibody-based therapy for this fatal fungal infection.
2) Unnatural immunity for the development of vaccine strategies that target multidrug resistant organisms including MDR Candida, MRSA, and Gram-negative bacteria.
3) Mechanisms of microbial sepsis for development of novel immunotherapies.

Education

• PhD, 1991, Microbial Physiology, Loughborough University of Technology in Loughborough, England

Recent and/or Significant Publications

1. Gebremariam T, Liu M, Luo G, Bruno V, Phan QT, Waring AJ, Edwards Jr. JE, Filler SG, Yeaman MR, Ibrahim AS (2014). CotH3 mediates fungal invasion of host cells during mucormycosis. Journal of Clinical Investigation. Jan 2;124(1):237-50. PMID:24355926
2. Yeaman MR, Filler SG, Chaili S, Barr K, Wang H, Kupferwasser D, Hennessey Jr.JP, Fu Y, Schmidt CS, Edwards Jr. JE, Xiong YQ, Ibrahim AS (2014). Efficacy and immune mechanisms of the NDV-3 vaccine in a murine model of MRSA skin / skin structure infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. pii: 201415610. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:25489065.
3. Liu M, Lin L, Gebremariam T, Luo G, Skory CD, French SW, Chou T-F, Edwards, Jr. JE, Ibrahim AS. Fob1 and Fob2 proteins are virulence determinants of Rhizopus oryzae via facilitating iron uptake from ferrioxamine. PLoS Pathogens 2015 May 14;11(5):e1004842. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004842. eCollection 2015 May. PMID:25974051
4. Gebremariam T, Lin L, Liu M, Kontoyiannis DP, French S, Edwards Jr. JE, Filler SG, and Ibrahim AS. Bicarbonate correction of ketoacidosis alters host-pathogen interactions and alleviates mucormycosis. Journal of Clinical Investigations. 2016 May 9. pii: 82744. doi: 10.1172/JCI82744. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 27159390.
5. Chibucos MC, Soliman S, Ghebremarimam T, Lee H, Daugherty S, Orvis J, Shetty AC, Crabtree J, Hazen TH, Etienne KA, Kumari P, O’Connor TD, Rasko DA, Filler SG, Fraser CM, Lockhart SR, Skory CD, Ibrahim AS,* and Bruno VM.* An integrated genomics and transcriptomics survey of mucormycosis-causing fungi. Nature Communications. 2016 Jul 22;7:12218. doi: 10.1038/ncomms12218. PMID: 27447865. *Corresponding authors