Melanie M. Pearson

This study shows that the cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) produced by Escherichia coli enhances urinary tract infection progression by promoting inflammation and tissue damage in mouse models.

This study identifies key sugar transporters in Proteus mirabilis that support its fitness during urinary tract infections and shows that host metabolic conditions can influence infection severity.

This paper introduces a PCR-based method to measure bacterial growth rates during infection, showing it correlates with WGS-based methods and reveals UPEC growth dynamics in a mouse UTI model.