PRESENTERS

The Bridges and Hiller laboratories in the Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University study biofilm communities in major human pathogens that cause respiratory and intestinal infections. The Hiller lab studies bacterial languages: they conceptualize these molecular signals as words and study the consequences of using these signals (a dictionary), the means by which they are coordinated over time (grammar) and how they vary across diverse bacterial strains and species (dialects). The Bridges lab studies bacterial decision making: they develop cutting-edge microscopy and automation tools to understand how bacteria interpret environmental cues to signal the formation, development and dispersal from bacterial communities.

The labs also collaborate; recently they have adopted concepts and tools developed in the Bridges lab to understand the genetic underpinning of biofilms studied in the Hiller lab. Because these communities are integral to the lifecycle of pathogens, understanding bacterial decision-making processes and languages can guide the development of novel anti-infective therapies that overcome the antibiotic resistance crisis.