How pathogenic bacteria target and manipulate essential components of signaling pathways has led Beckman Young Investigator, Kim Orth, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, to discover a new mechanism of signal that uses protein O-acetylation to cripple the host immune response. She continues to discover new eukaryotic signaling mechanisms that are used by bacteria during infection. Her lab has made more discoveries on other virulence factors, including a novel mechanism that utilizes the well-known primary metabolite, ATP. She believes this research will provide new cellular signaling mechanisms that will be useful, not only for other scientists, but also for future drug discovery.

BYI-Funded Research: Elucidation of the Enzymatic Mechanisms Utilized by Pathogenic Virulence Factors.

Patents: 1 patent pending

Post-Beckman Funding: Burroughs - Wellcome Fund Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Science, National Institutes of Health, Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Science

Publications: Biochemical Journal, Blood, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Biology, PLoS One, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science