Scientist III
Rochester General Hospital Research Institute
Ravinder Kaur, PhD
Research Scientist III
Rochester General Hospital Research Institute,
Rochester, NY, 14621
Dr. Kaur trained in the fields of microbiology & immunology. Her research focuses on pathogenesis, immunology and vaccine development involving the bacterial pathogens S. pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. Dr. Kaur works with human samples to understand differential expression of virulence determinants by these respiratory pathogens when they colonize the nasopharynx and progress to acute otitis media in children. She seeks to identify whether vaccine candidate proteins of S. pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae would be targets for immune responses occurring at the site of colonization compared to the site of infection. The microbiome of the nasopharynx and innate and adaptive immune responses may modulate protein expression by these respiratory bacteria; differences may exist between humans prone to such infections compared to those who resist infection more effectively.