UWMUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison · Microbiology & Immunology
Gut Microbiota and Pathogen Interaction Lab
Vanessa Sperandio · Madison, Wisconsin
Research Focus
Dr. Vanessa Sperandio's lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studies how gut bacteria and host signals regulate disease-causing bacteria, specifically enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). The lab focuses on understanding how neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and endocannabinoids affect the virulence of these pathogens and their interactions with the gut microbiota. This research is important for understanding microbial infections and developing better treatments against enteric diseases.
EHECvirulence regulationneurotransmittersgut microbiotaendocannabinoid system
Research Aims
2AIM 01Investigate the relationship among adrenergic and glucuronate signals in EHEC pathogenesis.
AIM 02Investigate the role of the endocannabinoid system in EHEC pathogenesis.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemolecular cloningmouse modelsWestern blottingPCRRNA extractionin vitro studiesbacterial culturingquantitative PCR
Output against the department
Publications185top 36% of dept.173rd of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations18ktop 21% of dept.100th 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.