Pathogenic mechanisms of fungal and bacterial infections
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.
PhD, 1991, Microbial Physiology, Loughborough University of Technology in Loughborough, England
Recent and/or Significant Publications
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
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). Mechanisms of NDV-3 vaccine efficacy in MRSA skin versus invasive infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 23; 111(51): E5555–E5563.
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
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 .J Clin Invest. 2016 Jun 1;126(6):2280-94. doi: 10.1172/JCI82744. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 27159390.