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Margaret Hostetter

Professor Adjunct

Additional Titles

Physician-in-Chief, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital

Chair, Department of Pediatrics

Section Chief, Pediatric Immunology

About

Titles

Professor Adjunct

Physician-in-Chief, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital; Chair, Department of Pediatrics; Section Chief, Pediatric Immunology

Biography

Director of the Yale Child Health Research Center since 1998 and Chair of Yale's Department of Pediatrics since 2002, Hostetter is a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases and in the evaluation of internationally adopted children. Her studies of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading global respiratory pathogen, and Candida albicans, a yeast that infects immunocompromised patients, have been supported by the NIH and private foundations for more than 25 years. She and members of her laboratory hold five patents for discoveries in these areas.

She also serves as program director of the Pediatric Scientist Development Program, a multi-million dollar training program for pediatric physician-scientists funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Prior to coming to Yale, Hostetter held the American Legion Heart Research Chair in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and headed the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.Hostetter's honors include the American Academy of Pediatrics Award for Excellence in Research, the Samuel Rosenthal Award for contributions to academic pediatrics, and the E. Mead Johnson Award for Pediatric Research from the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR). She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Appointments

Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Fellow
Boston Children's, Harvard (1980)
Intern & Resident
Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard (1978)

Board Certifications

  • Pediatrics

    Certification Organization
    AB of Pediatrics
    Original Certification Date
    1981

Research

Overview

Among the fungi, the yeast Candida albicans is the leading cause of death in susceptible hosts including premature newborns, patients with cancer, and other immunocompromised patients. Expanding upon our prior characterization of functions of the Int1 protein in adhesion and filamentous growth (Science 279:1355-8, 1998), we have defined new roles for this protein in superantigen-mediated injury, heparin binding, and biofilm formation. Other projects in the laboratory focus on the involvement of the mitochondrial proteome in C. albicans morphogenesis and on the mechanisms whereby this yeast invades the human gastrointestinal tract. In vitro models of gastrointestinal invasion are particularly interesting because of the novel linkage between C. albicans proteases, epithelial E-cadherin, and signaling via the gamma-secretase pathway.
  • How heparin enhances the ability of Candida albicans to evade innate immunity
  • Statins as inhibitors of Candida albicans biofilm
  • High throughput screening to identify other inhibitors of C. albicans biofilm

Publications

2008

2007

Others

  • Liu G, Vellucci V, Kyc S, Hostetter MK. (2009) Simvastatin inhibits Candida albicans biofilm in vitro. Pediatric Research, EPub August 22, 2009.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    National Institutes of Health

  • activity

    March of Dimes

  • activity

    Yale School of Medicine

  • activity

    Yale University

  • activity

    NICHD

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Appointment Number
Office Fax Number
Clinic Fax Number

Administrative Support

Locations

  • Laboratory for Medicine and Pediatrics (LMP)

    Academic Office

    15 York Street, Ste 4085

    New Haven, CT 06510