The Baylink laboratory at Washington State University
Developing atomic-level precision medicines against deadly pathogens
WE ARE a community of scientists investigating the world's deadliest gastrointestinal bacteria.
Our long-term goal is to engineer creative new antibacterials that leverage understanding of pathogen lifestyle and localization for more specific and effective eradication.
We employ a multidisciplinary approach to study how persistent bacterial infections develop and the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria resist clearance by our immune system.
Our drug discovery pipeline
Investigate how pathogens localize to damaged tissue and sites of injury
Using a cutting-edge methodology called “CIRA” we perform live-imaging of bacterial pathogens in response to stimuli, enabling us to learn how and why pathogens choose specific sites within the host to colonize.
Uncover molecular mechanisms of key protein systems
Computer-aided drug discovery
Using a combination of experimental and in silico structural biology methods we identify potential drug leads and iteratively improve them to inhibit the function of the target protein.
Gastrointestinal injury model
Inhibition of bacterial colonization is validated using a translational in vivo model that recapitulates essential elements of the human gastrointestinal environment during chronic infections.
Learn more about our research below
