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null Dao Nguyen, MD, MSc

Scientist, RI-MUHC, Glen site

Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program

Centre for Translational Biology

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University

Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, MUHC

 

Keywords

Microbiology • cystic fibrosis • Pseudomonas aeruginosa • host-pathogen interactions • antibiotic tolerance • biofilms • bacterial genetics

Research Focus

My research focuses on the molecular microbiology Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections and other biofilm infections. Biofilms are multicellular bacterial communities that are exceptionally tolerant to antibiotics, biocides and host defenses. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms cause debilitating and often fatal chronic airway infections in patients with the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. My work is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic tolerance and identifying bacterial pathways that contribute to how antibiotics kill bacteria. This can help develop new therapies to improve the efficacy of antibiotics against difficult to treat chronic infections. My lab also studies how Pseudomonas interacts with the host, and how these relationships shape the inflammatory responses. This is important to the pathogenesis of chronic lung disease in cystic fibrosis patients.

Selected Publications

Click on Pubmed to see my current publications list

  • Hennemann LC, LaFayette SL, Malet JK, Bortolotti P, Yang T, McKay GA, Houle D, Radzioch D, Rousseau S, Nguyen D. LasR-deficient Pseudomonas aeruginosa variants increase airway epithelial mICAM-1 expression and enhance neutrophilic lung inflammation. PLoS Pathog. 2021 Mar 10;17(3):e1009375. PMID: 33690714.

  • Martins D, McKay G, English AM, Nguyen D. Sublethal paraquat confers multidrug tolerance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by inducing superoxide dismutase activity and lowering envelope permeability. Frontiers Microbiology. 2020 Sept 25; 11:576708. PMID: 33101252.

  • Martins D, McKay G, Sampathkumar G, Khakimova M, English AM, Nguyen D. Superoxide dismutase confers antibiotic tolerance to stationary phase Pseudomonas aeruginosa and requires (p)ppGpp signaling. PNAS Sep 2018; 115(39):9797-9802. PMID: 30201715.

  • Lafayette S, Houle D, Radzioch D, Beaudoin T, Hoffman LR, Burns JL, Dandekar A, Smalley N, Chandler J, Zlosnik J, Speert D, Bernier J, Matouk E, Brochiero, Rousseau S, Nguyen D. Cystic fibrosis-adapted Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing lasR mutants cause hyper-inflammatory responses. Science Advances July 2015, 1(6), e1500199. PMID: 26457326.

  • Nguyen D, Joshi-Datar A, Lepine F, Bauerle E, Okanami B, Beer K, McKay G, Siehnel R, Schafhauser J, Wang Y, Brittigan B, Singh PK. Active starvation responses mediate antibiotic tolerance in biofilms and nutrient-limited bacteria. Science 2011 Nov 18; 334(6058): 982-6. PMID: 22096200.