John J. Mekalanos, Ph.D.

Second Winford P. Larson Lecturer

John J. Mekalanos, Ph.D.
Adele Lehman Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Chairman, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Harvard Medical School

Bacterial Virulence and Horizontal Gene Transfer

Dr. John J. Mekalanos, currently Adele Lehman Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School, has been at the forefront of cholera research from his graduate studies on the purification and characterization of cholera toxin to the recent identification of a filamentous bacteriophage that carries the genes for the toxin and co-regulated production of pili required for intestinal colonization. Live attenuated vaccines effective against cholera are one of the important practical benefits of this research. In addition to research on cholera, Dr. Mekalanos has pioneered molecular approaches, such as in vivo expression technology, to understanding the virulence of bacteria and pathogenesis of infection. He has received amongst other honors the Eli Lilly Award and American Association for the Advancement of Science Newcomb Cleveland Prize for the Outstanding Paper of 1993 Published in Science (259:686-688, 1993).