Eryn Bernardy

In general, I love everything to do with microbes. I think they rule the world. My research interests revolve around understand how bacterial interactions impact their behavior and therefore their pathogenesis. Specifically, I study Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, the two most common cause of lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is a genetic disorder characterized most famously for a mucus buildup in the lungs. This mucus is a breeding ground for chronic bacterial lung infections, which are the most common cause of death in these patients.  When these two bacteria coinfect a patient, the patient's prognosis declines rapidly. This is poorly understood. Therefore, my lab is interested in understanding not only the diversity of the interactions between these two bacteria, but also the genes involved, and how the interactions change the behavior of the bacteria.