Clemson University
Dr. Stephen Dolan serves as an Assistant Professor at Clemson University's Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), an interdisciplinary research cooperative at the forefront of biomedical research on these devastating pathogens.
The Dolan Lab investigates microbial interactions in human infections, particularly focusing on the complex communities formed by multiple species, resulting in polymicrobial infections. Their current research is centered on understanding the mechanistic basis of polymicrobial interactions between fungi and bacteria during cystic fibrosis (CF) infection. Leveraging clinical isolates, Dr. Dolan's research aims to explore how the physiology of both partners is altered upon co-culture in a recapitulated CF environment, compared to monoculture. The overarching goal is to utilize this unique cross-kingdom insight to unravel how fungi respond to bacteria (and vice versa) and other cues found in polymicrobial environments, with the ultimate aim of developing new therapeutic interventions.
Prior to joining Clemson University, Dr. Dolan served as a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Marvin Whiteley’s laboratory at Georgia Tech and the Emory-Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Center, Atlanta, GA (2021-2023).
Before relocating research activities to the US, Dr. Dolan held the position of Herchel Smith research fellow at the University of Cambridge, hosted in the laboratory of Dr. Martin Welch. In this role, Dr. Dolan applied their comparative ‘omics experience to a key respiratory pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while also acquiring skills to examine the physiology of multiple organisms in clinically relevant fungal-bacterial interactions.
Dr. Dolan earned his PhD in 2016 from Maynooth University, Ireland, under the supervision of Dr. Sean Doyle. Their doctoral research utilized comparative ‘omics and reverse genetics to characterize novel regulators of toxin production in the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus.
Thursday, September 26, 2024
2:30 PM – 4:30 PM ET