David Pearce
Current Position
Food Microbiological R&D Scientist, Alaska Food Diagnostics, Ltd. (www.alaskafooddiagnostics.com)
Education
B.Sc. (Hons) Microbiology with a Modern Foreign Language (German)
The University of Manchester, United Kingdom - July 2001
Ph.D. The University of Manchester (School of Biological Sciences) – November 2004
Research Interests
My project involves the development of a bacterial delivery system for gene therapy. Several previous reports have shown that plasmid DNA can be delivered into mammalian cells by several species of intracellular bacteria, such as Shigella, Salmonella and Listeria, suggesting the feasibility of a novel strategy of gene therapy utilizing bacteria as the delivery vehicle. Gene therapy based on this approach will offer several key advantages over conventional approaches, including cost-effectiveness, safety, high delivery efficiency, and long-term expression. Invasive E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes strains programmed to undergo lysis upon entry into eukaryotic cells are currently being tested in vitro to determine both their lytic capability and ability to deliver eukaryotic reporter plasmids.
Publications and Abstracts
Pearce, D.M., Glen, S., Andrew, P.W., Kuhn, M., Sonenshein, A.L. and Roberts, I.S. Identification of a CodY protein in Listeria monocytogenes; a role for GTP sensing in the pathogenesis of listerial infection. Manuscript in preparation.
Pearce, D.M., Taylor, C.M., Kuhn, M., Andrew, P.W. and Roberts, I.S. 2004. The Role of CodY in the Pathogenesis of Listeria monocytogenes Infection. 104th ASM General Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
Pearce, D.M., Taylor, C.M., Weber, M., Kuhn, M. and Roberts, I.S. 2003. Phenotypic characterization of relA and hpt mutants of the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. 152nd SGM Meeting, Edinburgh, UK.
EMAIL ADDRESS: davidpearce@mail.utexas.edu
