Dr. Mike Konkel is a professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University. The Konkel research group focuses on the characterization of host-Campylobacter jejuni interactions. Biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, and high throughput genomic/proteomic approaches are currently being used to understand the unique virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of this facultative intracellular bacterium. One of our current aims is to identify and dissect the mechanism of cell binding and entry-promoting proteins used by C. jejuni to cause disease. To this extent, we have identified several bacterial adhesins and secreted effector proteins. Dr. Konkel’s research is supported by a grant from the NIH.

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