Research Scientist
Duke University
Yazhong Tao Ph.D is a Research Scientist in the Infectious Diseases Department of Duke University. Our lab has been focusing on understanding the pathogenesis of bacteremia by Staph Aureus for over a decade. Our GWAS study identified common HLA variants associated with the development of S. aureus infections in 50,000 European-ancestry patients (Delorenze 2016), and this was validated next in the European-derived genomic regions of admixed African Americans with S. aureus bacteremia (Cyr, 2017). To follow up on this initial finding, we planned to fine-map the HLA variants regions and investigate how HLA-DR variants may differ in their ability to bind and present S. aureus peptides to host T cells and impact protective immunity. My works mainly focus on dissecting the differences among different HLA variants during the bacteria binding, phagocytosis, processing, and presenting by APCs to T cells and the differences in T cell subsets and cytokine secretion. Understanding the human susceptibilities and the pathogenesis of bacteremia by Staph Aureus may shed light on novel therapeutic strategies to combat infectious diseases and lead to vaccine/drug discovery.