Heather W. Pinkett, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Biosciences; Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Research Program
Cancer-Focused Research
I am currently investigating how pathogenic organisms recognize and circumvent the host innate immune response; a mechanism crucial to the evolution of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) resistance. Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) utilizes the ABC transport system, the Sap transporter (sensitivity for antimicrobial peptides), to shuttle host-derived antimicrobial peptides into the cell's cytoplasm.