mechanisms of HOst-Pathogen Interactions
In the Lamason lab, we investigate how intracellular bacterial pathogens such as Rickettsia parkeri and Listeria monocytogenes hijack host cell processes to promote infection. We use cellular, molecular, genetic, biochemical, and biophysical approaches to elucidate the mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions in order to reveal key insights into pathogenesis and host cell biology.
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RECENT Lab News
January 5, 2026: Allison’s first author paper is out on bioRxiv. Here, we used a hybrid-capture RNA-seq technology to profile the early stages of infection and found that many genes exhibited distinct temporal signatures.
January 1, 2026: Welcome to our newest UROP, Bill Sun! Bill is teaming up with postdoc Elayne to study Rickettsia envelope biology.
October 29, 2025: Check out our latest preprint from first author Brandon Sit! Here, we used a whole-genome screen to find host factors that regulate rickettsial fitness and discovered that the host isomerase PPIA promotes surface exposure of Sca2 - a rickettsial autotransporter protein that enables actin-based motility. This work describes an entirely unexpected mechanism by which the host controls autotransporter biology and pathogen virulence.
September 5, 2025: Congrats to Jane Lodwick for being named a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow!!
August 22, 2025: We said goodbye today to Allen Sanderlin, who will be joining the Evavold lab at the Ragon Institute as a postdoc. Good luck and have fun, Allen!
August 10, 2025: Congrats to Clara Zhu for being selected as a HEALS SuperUROP!
July 22, 2025: Farewell to Cassandra Vondrak, who will be moving on to an exciting postdoctoral position with John Connor’s lab at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at BU!
July 14, 2025: The lab had a great time at the annual ASR conference, with a fantastic talk from Brandon Sit and a wonderful poster by Hannah Margolis (also a travel awardee!).
July 11, 2025: Welcome to our newest postdoc, Lauren Bird! Lauren hails from Australia where she did her PhD training in Hayley Newton’s lab studying Coxiella pathogenesis. Now she joins our team to investigate Rickettsia parkeri-host interactions.
June 24, 2025: Congrats to postdoc Elayne Fivenson for being named a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow!!
June 17, 2025: Funding alert - Our NIAID R01 was just renewed for 5 more years!!! Thanks to everyone’s hard work and creative approaches, which were essential to this success.
LATEST PAPERS
Hybrid capture RNA-seq defines temporal gene expression in Rickettsia
Host cyclophilin-mediated maturation of an obligate intracellular bacterial surface virulence factor
Pathogen-induced rerouting of host membrane trafficking
A conserved interaction between the effector Sca4 and host clathrin suggests additional contributions for Sca4 during rickettsial infection
Rickettsia parkeri forms extensive, stable contacts with the rough endoplasmic reticulum (paper)
Cell-selective proteomics reveal novel effectors secreted by an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen
