Jason Crawford, PhD
Professor of Chemistry and of Microbial Pathogenesis
The Crawford laboratory examines Metabolism at the Human-Microbe Interface. High-throughput genome sequencing of bacteria revealed unusual “orphan” biosynthetic gene clusters suspected of synthesizing novel, structurally diverse, biologically active small molecules. These molecules regulate complex interactions with animal hosts and can serve as human drugs and molecular probes to identify new drug targets. Using diverse approaches, the lab exploits interactions between bacteria and animals to discover new molecules with signaling, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities.