E-mail: lwriley@berkeley.edu
Colaborador.
As an infectious disease physician, I also trained in molecular biology and field epidemiology. At UC Berkeley, I have established a research and training program that combines these disciplines, which has come to be described as molecular epidemiology. I wrote one of the first textbooks on this discipline “Molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases: Principles and practices” (ASM Press, 2004). Our early research studies (1990s) have focused on genotypic characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to assess transmission dynamics of tuberculosis (TB), risk factors for progressive disease, and in identifying new virulence factors associated with transmission. Later studies (2000-2010) have focused on using molecular biology tools to characterize the epidemiology of health-care associated and community-onset drug-resistant infections (Gram-negative and positive bacterial infections) in Brazil and in the Bay Area of California. In Brazil, we have characterized the molecular epidemiology of pneumococcal meningitis, Group A streptococcal pharyngitis, and Staphylococcus aureus infections. We have taken advantage of the new technology of “next generation sequencing” to apply it as a new epidemiological tool to study emerging public health problems, including “serious-threat” drug-resistant pathogens (e.g. carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE), multidrugresistant TB, and pneumococcal and staphylococcal diseases in emerging economy nations (e.g., Brazil, India, Bangladesh).
