Please join the MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection (CMBI) for a seminar on ‘Exploring the dynamics of Type IV pili in bacterial pathogenesis’ with Professor Lisa Craig.
Professor Lisa Craig is a structural biologist and Professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, British Columbia. She did her postdoctoral studies with John Tainer on Type IV pilus structure at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla California, and her PhD with Jamie Scott on phage display at SFU. Her research focuses on Type IV pili, long thin retractile filaments displayed on many bacteria with central and diverse roles in pathogenesis. The Craig group, in collaboration with Ed Egelman (University of Virginia) pioneered structural studies on the Type IV pili, using x-ray crystallography and cryoelectron microscopy to produce pseudoatomic resolutions structures of pili from Neisseria meningitidis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio cholerae. These structures have contributed to a mechanistic understanding of Type IV pilus assembly and retraction and how pilus dynamics feature in diverse pilus functions. A major thrust of her current work is on the tip associated minor pilins as adhesion mediators and as targets for antibiotic carriers. Dr Craig is the recipient of a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award and a Canadian Institutes for Health Research New Investigator Award.