We are pleased to announce that Dr. Cristina Navarro Gomez has been awarded the NAWA Ulam grant for her project entitled “Salmonella sv. Typhimurium Csp Protein: Biochemistry and Role in Pathogenesis”. Congratulations!

The bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) causes non-typhoidal salmonellosis. It colonizes numerous animal species, entering the food chain and reaching human hosts. Due to extensive use of antibiotics in animal feed, multidrug resistant salmonellosis has become an emergent threat. To control these strains, new therapies must be urgently found by targeting components essential to avoid the host immune response. Growing evidence indicates S. Typhimurium copper homeostasis machinery can be one such target, since macrophages use copper toxicity as a weapon against this pathogen.

In this project, I will determine the function of a novel copper storage protein (Csp) in Salmonella copper homeostasis and physiology.  Consequently, new mechanisms of bacterial copper homeostasis crucial to counter the immune response during infection will be unveiled. This multidisciplinary project will provide new therapeutic targets for future drug development programs against salmonellosis.