Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are abundant in the human body. However, their contributions to human health and disease are largely unknown. The Bollyky Lab studies interactions between phages and both their human and bacterial hosts with the goal of developing innovative strategies to improve human health.
One area of active investigation in the lab is the innate immune response to bacterial infection and its contribution to chronic skin and lung infections. We're interested in understanding how our bodies discriminate between bacterial infection and colonization. Most of these studies center on the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and are focused on either diabetic wound infections or lung infections in cystic fibrosis in humans or animal models.
A second area of investigation is the human "phageome"- the populations of bacteria and bacteriophages in the human body. We are developing tools to characterize these populations and to investigate their links to human health and disease. We are particularly interested in understanding the interactions between phages, bacteria, and human cells at sites of chronic infection.
A third area of active research involves bacteriophages and bacterial pathogenesis. We are studying how lysogenic bacteriophages contribute to the development of anti-microbial resistance and the regulation of bacterial virulence factors associated with the major human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
A fourth area of study is the synthetic biology and the development of phages as vectors for delivery of genes, peptides, and small molecules to human cells.
A fifth area of research is phage therapy - the use of lytic bacteriophages to treat chronic infections. Phage therapy has outstanding potential to treat antimicrobial-resistant infections but also other diseases associated with the microbiome, including cancer, allergy, and autoimmunity. We're excited to engineer phages and phage delivery platforms to develop novel therapeutics.
Looking for a lab?
We are actively recruiting bioengineers, molecular biologists, immunologists, and microbiologists for post-doctoral positions in the lab. If interested, please contact Dr. Bollyky at pbollyky@stanford.edu
For Stanford Undergraduates interested in joining the lab, we require a minimum commitment of a full year (including full-time work in the lab for at least one summer).
We take high school and undergraduate students through the SSRP program: https://biosciences.stanford.edu/prospective/diversity/ssrp/
