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The Zackular laboratory focuses on understanding interactions between the host, gut microbiota, and pathogens that impact human health and disease. The lab's efforts center primarily on the nosocomial pathogen Clostridioides difficile, which is considered an urgent global public health threat. Dr. Zackular's lab investigates how gut microbiota shapes C. difficile's fitness and virulence, studying the complex microbial communities that alter host responses to infection. Recent research has focused on elucidating the cooperative interactions between C. difficile and other pathogens, including enterococci. By leveraging the knowledge gained from studying polymicrobial interactions and microbial ecology in infections, the Zackular lab is developing novel vaccine strategies for the prevention of C. difficile infections using microbiome-based therapies. Additionally, Dr. Zackular serves as co-director of the Center for Microbial Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where the focus is on implementing microbiome-based medicine for pediatric patients, emphasizing precision pathogen surveillance for infection prevention and control to provide improved personalized treatments for infections.
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