Researcher

Josh Sharp

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Researcher Bio

Josh Sharp

Assistant Professor

2111 New Science

jsharp@nmu.edu

227-2380

Ph.D. Biological Sciences Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University 2006

Gene regulation in bacteria, medical microbiology, RNA degradation, regulators of bacterial virulence gene expression, and toxin secretion systems.

Research in my laboratory focuses on gene regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an important opportunistic bacterial pathogen that is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. P. aeruginosa is also an important cause of hospital acquired infections. Specifically, I am interested in the role that RNA degrading proteins and regulatory RNAs play in regulating gene expression in this organism.

A second research area in my laboratory will focus on Pseudomonas entomophila, an insect pathogen, and how a bacterial two-competent system is involved in P. entomophila survival in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). In particular, I am interested in how this two- competent system might be involved in regulating virulence gene expression.