2012 1:48:58 PM

Glen Palmer, PhD

Assistant Professor
Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology

533 Bolivar Street
New Orleans, LA  70119
Phone: (504) 568-5008
Fax: (504) 568-2918
E-mail: gpalme@lsuhsc.edu

Degrees

BSc Genetics - 1997
University of Sheffield, U.K.

PhD Genetics - 2001
University of Leicester, U.K.

Bio

Dr. Palmer graduated with a BSc degree in Genetics from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom in 1997. In 2001 he graduated with a PhD from the Genetics department of the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. From 2001 to 2004 he conducted Postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Joy Sturtevant, at both Georgetown University in Washington DC, and at LSUHSC, New Orleans. In 2004 Dr. Palmer was promoted to Assistant Professor within the department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, LSUHSC, New Orleans.  In 2008, he transferred to the department of Oral and Craniofacial Biology at LSUHSC School of Dentistry in New Orleans.

Research Interests

Dr. Palmer’s research focuses on the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, which causes serious mucosal disease and fatal systemic infections. Much of his research addresses the role played by the fungal vacuole, an acidic cellular compartment rich in degradative enzymes, in supporting C. albicans ability to survive within and injure mammalian tissue. This has revealed that normal vacuolar function is essential for C. albicans colonization and invasion of mammalian tissue. In addition, specific vacuolar pathways may also determine fungal susceptibility to conventional forms of antifungal therapy. As mammalian cells lack vacuoles, this organelle may provide a target that can be exploited to develop new, pathogen selective antifungal agents. To this end, a major goal of current efforts within the lab is to identify chemical agents that disrupt the integrity of the fungal vacuole, and assess their potential as novel antifungal therapies.

A second major interest of the Palmer lab is in devising novel yeast based chemical-genetic screening strategies that can be applied to drug discovery.

Selected Publications

Wozniak, K.L., Palmer, G.E., Kutner, R. and Fidel, P.L., Immunotherapeutic approaches to enhance protective immunity against Candida vaginitis., Medical Mycology, 43:589-601, 2005.

Palmer, G.E., Kelly, M.N., and Sturtevant, J., The Candida albicans vacuole is, Eukaryotic Cell, 4:1677-86, 2005.

Palmer, G.E., and Sturtevant, J., Random mutagenesis of an essential Candida albicans gene., Current Genetics, 46:343-356, 2004.

Palmer, G.E., Johnson, K.J., Ghosh, S and Sturtevant, J., Mutant alleles of the essential 14-3-3 gene in Candida albicans demonstrate varying defects in growth and filamentation., Microbiology, 150:1911-1924, 2004.

Palmer, G.E., Cashmore, A. and J. Sturtevant., Germtube formation in Candida albicans is dependent on vacuole function, Eukaryotic Cell, 2:411-421, 2003.

Palmer, G.E., Kelly, M.N. and Sturtevant, J.E., Role of autophagy in morphogeneis and virulence of Candida albicans., Manuscript accepted for publication in Microbiolog