Amber M. Smith                                                                                                           Department of Infectious Diseases St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Phone: 901-595-5599 Email: amber.smith@stjude.org

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Research Interests: Modeling Influenza A Virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae Infections and Coinfections

My research focus is on influenza A virus infections and primary and secondary bacterial infections. Influenza A virus is an important respiratory pathogen that poses a considerable threat to public health each year during seasonal epidemics and even more so when a pandemic strain emerges. Recent investigation into past pandemics has revealed that many fatalities were the result of secondary bacterial infections. This was particularly true during the 1918-1919 "Spanish Flu" pandemic. The unparalleled virulence of the 1918 influenza virus was likely due both to strain novelty and to one or more intrinsic viral properties coupled with synergistic interactions with bacterial pathogens, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). Several aspects of influenza and pneumococcus kinetics, including pathogen growth, decay and interplay with host immune responses, are not well understood. The purpose of my work is to use mathematical models as a tool for studying the complex dynamics of influenza A virus, pneumococcus, and coinfection with these two pathogens within a host.

I couple mathematical, statistical and experimental techniques to understand the kinetics of viral and bacterial infections. I utilize ordinary differential equations, model building, model selection theory, perturbation theory, data fitting and parameter estimation in combination with experimental data from infections in mice. In general, I am interested in addressing how pathogens modulate the host immune response, how pathogens interact during coinfections, and in making predictions about the time course of infection and the mechanisms involved in pathogenesis. Through the combined mathematical and biological methods, I aim to better characterize infection kinetics and host immune responses, discover new pathogen properties, investigate treatment strategies, and understand contributing host factors that are otherwise not available by experimental procedures.


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