Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Melissa Kendall, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Transcript:
What I love about my research is the opportunity to make fundamental discoveries that help us understand how microbes colonize and grow within our bodies, as well as how microbes interact with our immune cells. These discoveries can help my lab and other researchers develop new therapies to treat infectious and autoimmune diseases.
My name is Melissa Kendall, and I'm an associate professor in the department of microbiology, immunology, and cancer biology. My lab is interested in how microbes impact colonic health. We have two major research areas. The first investigates how pathogenic bacteria exploit signals within the host, such as metabolites from our diet, to activate signaling pathways that are important for infection. Our second research area focuses on how specific members of our microbiome regulate immune responses. And we are particularly interested in how microbes control aberrant immune responses to protect from severe inflammation. Our research is essential to developing new therapeutics to control bacterial infections, as well as harness the power of our microbiome to prevent and treat IBD and related diseases. The Manning Institute for Biotechnology will support our research by providing the infrastructure to translate our fundamental discoveries into treatments that can help save lives.
Melissa Kendall, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
Transcript:
What I love about my research is the opportunity to make fundamental discoveries that help us understand how microbes colonize and grow within our bodies, as well as how microbes interact with our immune cells. These discoveries can help my lab and other researchers develop new therapies to treat infectious and autoimmune diseases.
My name is Melissa Kendall, and I'm an associate professor in the department of microbiology, immunology, and cancer biology. My lab is interested in how microbes impact colonic health. We have two major research areas. The first investigates how pathogenic bacteria exploit signals within the host, such as metabolites from our diet, to activate signaling pathways that are important for infection. Our second research area focuses on how specific members of our microbiome regulate immune responses. And we are particularly interested in how microbes control aberrant immune responses to protect from severe inflammation. Our research is essential to developing new therapeutics to control bacterial infections, as well as harness the power of our microbiome to prevent and treat IBD and related diseases. The Manning Institute for Biotechnology will support our research by providing the infrastructure to translate our fundamental discoveries into treatments that can help save lives.
