Washington University in St Louis · Microbiology & ImmunologyBacterial Stress Response and Gut Health Unit
Mario Feldman · Saint Louis, Missouri
Research Focus
Dr. Mario Feldman's lab at Washington University focuses on understanding how bacteria, particularly those that are resistant to antibiotics, respond to stress and interact with the human body. One project looks at how the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii manages stress through a novel biochemical pathway, which could have implications for treating infections. Another project investigates outer membrane vesicles produced by gut bacteria, which may play a role in maintaining gut health and influencing immune responses. Overall, the lab aims to uncover new molecular mechanisms that could lead to better treatments for bacterial infections and improve our understanding of gut microbiology.
Acinetobacter baumanniimultidrug resistancestress responseouter membrane vesiclesgut microbiotabacterial pathogenesisimmune modulationnutrient degradationvirulence factorsBacteroides
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the role of phenylacetic acid in the stress response of Acinetobacter baumannii.
AIM 02Characterize factors involved in outer membrane vesicle biogenesis in Bacteroides spp.
AIM 03Explore how specific gene mutations affect bacterial virulence and antibiotic sensitivity.
AIM 04Measure the impact of outer membrane vesicles on bacterial fitness and survival in the human gut.
AIM 05Identify novel regulatory proteins associated with bacterial stress responses.
Skills the Lab Values
bacterial geneticsgene expression analysisanimal models of infectionmolecular cloninghigh-throughput screeningbiochemical assayscell culturemicroscopyRNA sequencing
Output against the department
Publications152top 43% of dept.207th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations10ktop 36% of dept.175th of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.