William Geisler
University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), the bacterium that causes chlamydia, is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world. Infection rates keep rising despite prevention efforts.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
Public Health & Epidemiology
- Topics
Chlamydia trachomatis
sexually transmitted infections
immunogenetics
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Oct 2027
What they work on
- Determine whether the HLA-DQB1*06 gene variant and chlamydia-specific CD4+ IFN-gamma responses from helper T cells can predict new Chlamydia trachomatis infections in women, to guide testing frequency.
- Identify factors that would affect implementation of a future chlamydia vaccine through surveys and qualitative interviews, to inform strategies for rolling it out.
- Study immunogenetic factors and chlamydia antigens linked to infection risk and protective immunity in patients, to inform vaccine development.
More about the research
Infections can damage reproductive health, and some patient groups are hit much harder than others. A vaccine is urgently needed. Developing one requires knowing which genetic factors in people affect infection risk and which parts of the bacterium trigger protective immunity. Even then, a vaccine only helps if people actually use it.
Why it matters
Chlamydia is the most common bacterial STI worldwide and can harm reproductive health, with unequal burdens across patient groups. This work could help advance a chlamydia vaccine and plan its rollout. Biomarkers that predict infection risk could help clinicians set how often women should be screened.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kathryn Frietze
University of New Mexico, NM·Microbiology & Immunology
Engineer bacteriophage virus-like particle vaccines, virus shells that display a chosen protein fragment in a repeating array, to raise high levels of antibodies against Chlamydia trachomatis adhesion factors, and measure their immunogenicity in mouse immunization studies.
Jeffrey Klausner
University of Southern California, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether chlamydia, gonorrhea or trichomoniasis detected in stored third-trimester vaginal specimens is linked to higher preterm birth risk, and whether risk differs by type of infection.
Makella Coudray
University of Central Florida, FL·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Assess the acceptability, feasibility and accuracy of self-collected versus clinician-collected genital and non-genital specimens for STI detection among trans women, using mixed methods.
The school
University of Alabama at Birmingham: 45 labs on PI Pages, $866M a year on research, 166 research doctorates a year.
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