Academic Affiliation
Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Credentials
PhD, 2000, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Bio
Shelley Haydel, PhD, strives to understand bacterial pathogenesis at the molecular level in order to determine the mechanism by which bacteria are able to infect and cause disease in humans. In addition to her post at the Institute, Dr. Haydel is an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences.
Dr. Haydel’s research interests include the regulation and function of M. tuberculosis two-component systems, the role of these systems in mycobacterial virulence and understanding host-pathogen interactions at the molecular level. Her laboratory combines genetic and biochemical approaches to study the molecular mechanisms of these regulatory systems and cell culture and animal models to investigate the role of these systems in the M. tuberculosis disease process.
Our capacity to properly address the worldwide incidence of infectious diseases lies in the ability to detect, prevent and effectively treat these infections. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics has made infectious bacteria increasingly antibiotic-resistant. Coupled with few new antibacterial compounds in recent decades, motivates Dr. Haydel to pursue interdisciplinary research. Specifically, she assesses the broad-spectrum antibacterial activities of various clay minerals and determines the chemical, mineralogical and surface thermodynamic properties of clay minerals that display antimicrobial effects.
A New Orleans native, she obtained a BS in microbiology from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. She went on to earn a PhD in microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2000 and trained as a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University in St. Louis.