Infection Control and Prevention

Biography

Pietro Mastroeni is a Reader in Infection and Immunity, University of Cambridge. Coming to his education He completed his Doctor of Medicine and Surgery in 1990 at the University of Messina, Italy. He also did his Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Pathology and Darwin College, University of Cambridge between 1991-1994. In 1992-96 he did his tenured lectureship in Infectious Diseases at University of Messina, Italy. He worked as a Research Associate at the University of Newcastle, Department of Microbiology, The Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK in 1997.He did as a Research Fellow (1997-1999), Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, UK. Worked as a University Lecturer in Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge from 1999-2004.And also worked as a University Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge in 2004-2008. Reviewing and Editorial activities Member of the Editorial Board of Microbes and Infection, The Scientific World Journal and The Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology. Reviewing papers for: Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Cell, Host and Microbe, European Journal of Immunology, Cellular Microbiology, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, PLoS Pathogens, PLoS One, Immunology, Infection and Immunity, FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology, Microbiology, BioDrugs, Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Molecular Microbiology, Trends in Microbiology, Canadian Journal of Microbiology, International Immunopharmacology, Microbes and Infection, Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine, Veterinary Research, Immunology and Cell Biology, Veterinary pathology, The International Journal of Bacteriology, Frontiers in Immunology, Journal of Medicine and Medical Science Research, Future Microbiology, mBio. Reviewing Grants for Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), The Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (MRC), European Research Council, Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), World Health Organisation (WHO), Royal Society, Medical Research Scotland, Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, Swiss National Science Foundation, Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal (FCT), Action Medical Research and British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, National Science Center, Poland.

Research Interest

My research has focused on the interplay between bacterial pathogenesis and the immune system as the foundation for vaccine development and improved antibiotic therapy. I am interested in understanding how inflammation and immunity control bacterial infections and to study the genes/mechanisms that allow bacteria to evade killing by antibodies and phagocytes. I am also interested in the interaction between cellular and humoral adaptive immunity and in receptors and soluble mediators used by the immune system to control bacterial infections. I have been involved in the discovery and/or functional characterization of many bacterial virulence and/or immune-evasion genes as targets for live attenuated vaccine candidates. I have also combined traditional tools with forefront genome-wide approaches to understand bacterial adaptation to the host immune response in vivo and to discover vaccine candidates that are safer in immune-compromised individuals. My research has pioneered and used innovative multidisciplinary approaches, which combine immunology, microscopy, molecularly tagged microbial subpopulations and mathematical modeling, to study bacterial infection dynamics in vivo. This allowed my research group to unravel the impact of immunity, vaccination and antibiotics on pathogen behaviour at the single cell level. These approaches, are revolutionizing the study of many bacterial infections in vivo, are enabling scientists to move away from compartmentalized approaches and are yielding a global understanding of infection biology. I have also been involved in other research areas within infection, including the interplay between bacteria, autoimmune diseases and cancer.