Too much dietary manganese — an essential trace mineral found in leafy green vegetables, fruits and nuts — promotes infection of the heart by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”).

Eric Skaar, Ph.D., MPH, the Ernest W. Goodpasture Professor of Pathology, has received a Scholar Award from the American Asthma Foundation (AAF).

Jim Cassat, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist who joined the Vanderbilt faculty this summer, loves taking care of children with bone infections and doing research to understand the host-pathogen interactions during these invasive infections.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can share resources to cause chronic infections, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. The findings shed light on a long-standing question in infectious diseases and may inform new treatment strategies.

Targeting the enzyme FosB could make antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria sensitive to the antibiotic fosfomycin.

Osteomyelitis, a debilitating bone infection most frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”) bacteria, is particularly challenging to treat.

Vanderbilt investigators report new insights to the workings of calprotectin, an immune system protein that “starves” bacterial pathogens of the metal nutrients they require.