Our goal is to improve health outcomes of women and their babies by understanding processes of bacteria-host interactions and ecology within the complex biochemical, microbiological, and immunological niches of the female urogenital tract. We use multiple approaches to investigate host-microbe interactions that impact women's health at carbohydrate-rich mucosal surfaces of the female urinary and reproductive tracts. Model systems employ biochemical, cellular, and animal models in conjunction with clinical specimens to interrogate mechanisms in urogenital disease.

​

The glycobiology of microbial interactions with the host is an area of special interest to us.