Massachusetts Institute of Technology · ChemistryMycobacterial Cell Wall Research Group
Laura L Kiessling · Cambridge, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Professor Laura Kiessling's lab at MIT focuses on developing new chemical tools to study the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis. By visualizing and understanding the structure and changes of the bacterial cell envelope, the lab aims to identify new treatment strategies for drug-resistant strains of TB. Their research includes the creation of probes that can detect specific components of the mycobacterial cell wall and monitor how these components change during antibiotic treatment.
Mycobacterium tuberculosischemical probescell envelopeantibiotic resistanceTB treatment
Research Aims
3AIM 01Develop chemical probes to visualize components of the mycobacterial cell wall.
AIM 02Identify specific glycans in pathogenic mycobacteria to understand their role in virulence.
AIM 03Monitor real-time changes in the mycobacterial cell envelope in response to antibiotics.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturefluorescence microscopychemical synthesisprotein purificationfluorogenic probes
Output against the department
Publications466top 20% of dept.43rd of 216
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations19ktop 25% of dept.54th of 216
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.