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Salmonella enteritidis is a food-borne bacterium that causes gastroenteritis in humans. It typically comes from eating raw or undercooked eggs. Dr. Claudia Mickael is working to develop a vaccine that decreases levels of the bacterium in chickens, which could in turn reduce cases of human infection. She is focusing her attention on Salmonella’s two main pathogenicity islands (SPI-1 and SPI-2) as possible targets for a vaccine. Dr. Mickael’s project will involve studying how well certain antibodies can prevent the bacterium from entering a host cell; determining how to get SPI-1/SPI-2 to secrete proteins, or effectors, that block S. Enteritidis; then vaccinating chickens with these effectors. Her aim is to develop a drug that prevents the bacterium from entering host cells and colonizing in poultry.

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