Cellular Microbiology & Pathogenesis

BIOGRAPHY

CURRENT POSITION:
Senior Investigator: Salmonella Host-Cell Interactions Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

EDUCATION:
Dr Steele-Mortimer received her PhD in cell biology from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in 1994. From 1995 to 1999 she did postdoctoral research on Salmonella-host cell interactions in the laboratory of B Brett Finlay at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver followed by one year at Washington University, St Louis with Phillip D Stahl. In 2001, she came to the NIH as a tenure-track investigator in the Laboratory of Intracellular Parasites and became a tenured Senior Investigator in 2007.

EDITORIAL POSITION:
Dr Steele-Mortimer is a member of the editorial board of Traffic.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) is a common cause of gastroenteritis in humans. Two type-three secretion systems (TTSS), which are essential for pathogenesis, are used to deliver bacterial effector proteins directly into the host cell. The Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 (SPI1)-encoded TTSS mediates invasion of nonphagocytic cells, while the SPI2-encoded TTSS is required for intracellular growth and survival. Once inside eukaryotic cells, S. enterica survive and replicate within salmonella-containing vacuoles (SCV).