His research interests revolve around the field of molecular pathogenesis with a particular focus on chronic infectious diseases, human genetic susceptibility, and resistance to infections by employing comparative genomic technologies.
[8] As of 2022, he is the chair of the scientific advisory board of Keystone Bio which is a bio-technology company developing biologicals to combat systemic inflammatory disease.
He, then enrolled at Syracuse University for a Ph.D. in molecular biology and graduated in 1987 during which time he was a member of the team that first applied PCR to the detection of low copy number infectious agents.
[10] Subsequently, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in human retrovirology at SUNY Upstate Medical Center where he demonstrated that HTLV-I was associated with a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system.
[18] Subsequently, he led a team that directly demonstrated the formation of bacterial biofilms on the middle-ear mucosa of children who had failed multiple rounds of antibiotic therapy, yet still suffered from either COME or recurrent OM.
[23][24] This anti-biofilm research program has resulted in multiple patent applications and employs a hybrid in silico and laboratory pipeline for the identification and characterization of small inhibitor molecules which can be used in combination with traditional antibiotics for the treatment of biofilm infection by targeting the bacterial stringent response.
In addition, he collaborated with a group of physicians to develop appropriate precautionary measures, and recommendations regarded as essential prior to the resuming of the Elective Orthopaedic Surgery with a strict emphasis on preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Through his early adoption and development of species-specific pan-domain molecular diagnostics including the Ibis Biosciences T5000 and his lab-developed, long-read 16S microbiome assay he has played a role in demonstrating that many inflammatory conditions are actually chronic polymicrobial infections in which the pathogens remain largely unculturable.
This approach led to his identification and characterization of Msf1, an Haemophilus influenzae virulence factor that provides for the bacterium's survival and trafficking in human macrophages.
[43] Speaking with Katie Clark for the Drexel University Research Magazine, he commented, "Despite the billions that have been spent, we have no effective drugs, we have done nothing to change the natural history of the disease...