Charles T. Spencer, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Dr. Spencer’s research interests are in zoonotic and re/emerging bacterial infectious diseases and the disease burdens of such accumulating at national boundaries. Inflammation is a critical part of our immune response to infectious diseases. However, certain infectious diseases –e.g., Francisella tularensis, Ebola, pandemic influenza, hantavirus, SARS and MERS– trigger an exuberant host inflammatory response defined by excess production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by immune cells, a condition termed “cytokine storm.” For these diseases, the production of this pathological cytokine storm is the direct cause of acute respiratory distress (ARDS), hemorrhage, hypovolemic shock, pneumonia, tissue damage, and ultimately of death of the patient. Currently, the laboratory focuses on Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia and rabbit fever and a potential bioweapon. The objective of this research program is to define the immune response elicited by inflammatory infectious diseases with the ultimate goal of determining commonalities that could be targeted for therapeutic intervention. For this, he seeks to analyze the cellular activation, serum cytokines, tissue proteins and lipids, metabolic activity, and transcriptional activation of the immune response. These data will be compared to direct comparisons and previous results obtained with conventional infections. These studies will provide new insights into the process of inflammation that is elicited by inflammatory infectious diseases. The goal of Dr. Spencer’s laboratory is thus to develop therapeutic interventions for infectious diseases. For meeting request :Please select a time here and send me your resume:https://beta.doodle.com/DrSpencer