Disclaimer:  The following information is drawn from materials prepared by candidates for promotion to associate professor in one of the scholarship-requiring tracks (RS and CS).  It is intended to illustrate activities and materials that might support promotion.  In using these materials, please note the following:

            *The Provost (and, in some cases, the President) are the University officers authorized to approve promotions.  All levels of review below these officers are advisory.

            *Only Departments are empowered to propose promotions, and the Divisional Dean is charged with transmitting such proposals to the Provost or returning them to the Department.

            *The judgment of the Department, Dean, and Provost will therefore be critical to assessing qualification for promotion.

            *Materials considered by the Department, Dean, and Provost will also (and always) include confidential evaluations obtained from outside the University.  Materials considered by the Provost will include the confidential evaluations of the Dean and Department, and those considered by the Dean will include the confidential evaluations of the Department.

            *Thus, the following materials are ONLY PART of a complete proposal for promotion, whereas promotion is based on the ENTIRE proposal.   Therefore, it should not be assumed that a record comparable to that below will necessarily result in promotion, or that a record not comparable to that below will fail to result in promotion.  The Departmental Chair is likely to be the best source of advice as to whether promotion is feasible and, when it is not, what additional activity may result in qualification for promotion.

            *This document has been prepared as a tool for use by assistant professors in the Division of the Biological Sciences.  Other individuals who may find it informative are Department Chairmen, Section Heads, Committee Chairmen, senior faculty and potential recruits.  Its intent is to help guide individuals and their departments as they think about promotion to Professor.  This document is not intended to list the elements that every promotion proposal will be expected to address.  The following information is presented for information purposes only and is not intended to create any contract or agreement, and its contents are subject to addition, deletion, and change without prior notice.

Name

Dominique Missiakas, Ph. D.

 

 

Department of Primary Appointment:

Microbiology

 

Secondary appointments:

Committee on Microbiology

DEPARTMENT: What is the candidate's field or specialization?

Bacterial virulence factors and pathogenesis

LAY SUMMARY:

Staphylococcus aureus is the single most important bacterial pathogen in the United States.  The Centers for Disease Control estimates each year 3 million clinically relevant infections caused by this pathogen and about 120,000 Americans succumb to diseases caused by S. aureus. Of particular concern is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains (MRSA, methicillin resistant S. aureus) for which either only few therapies are available or which have acquired resistance to all known antibiotics.  Currently, there is no vaccine available that can prevent staphylococcal disease. Further, prior infection with this organism does not appear to elicit immune responses that can protect against subsequent staphylococcal infections.  Dr. MissiakasŐ work has identified a bacterial protein secretion system (Ess) that appears to suppress host immune responses to staphylococcal infection. The Ess secretion system is not only required for the establishment of acute and/or chronic persistent infections, mutants that are unable to promote Ess secretion also elicit immune responses that can protect experimental animals against subsequent infections. Taken together with enabling technologies that permit systematic genetic perturbation of staphylococci and identification of immune stimulatory molecules, Dr. MissiakasŐ discoveries may permit her to identify antigens that can lead to the development of vaccines and protect humans against staphylococcal infections.

CURRICULUM VITAE

 

Referee for the following journals

Molecular Microbiology, PNAS, Science, EMBO J, Journal of Bacteriology, Journal of Biological Chemistry and specialized journals in the field of Microbiology.

 

Other

I have been invited to serve on the Editorial Board of Molecular Microbiology starting January 2008.

I serve as an ad hoc on NIH ZRG1 IDM-A (90) and as a permanent member of AHA Immunology and Microbiology study sections.

PRESENTATIONS

Invitation to present lectures since 1998 (date of appointment as an Assistant Professor in the US):

 

- Protein Folding in the Bacterial Periplasm. Gordon Research Conference: Bacterial Cell Surface. New London NH, 1998.

- Protein folding in the periplasm of E. coli. New York University, School of Medicine, 1999.

- Protein folding in the bacterial periplasm. New York University, Department of Biology, 1999.

- Protein folding in vivo. University of Chicago, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2000.

- Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Conference, Madison Wisconsin. Session Chair, 2001.

- Protein folding in vivo. Loyola University of Chicago, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 2002.

- Protein folding in the cell envelope of bacteria. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of  Microbiology, 2002.

- The Secretome of Staphylococcus aureus. Midwest Prokaryotic Molecular Genetics and Physiology Meeting. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004.

- Staphylococcus aureus - Systems Biology Analysis to Define Virulence Traits. Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Department of Cellular Microbiology, 2004.

- Staphylococcus aureus - Systems Biology Analysis to Define Virulence Traits. Argonne National Laboratory, Biological Sciences Division, 2005.

- Staphylococcus aureus - Systems Biology Analysis to Define Virulence Traits. University of Houston, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, 2005.

- Staphylococcus aureus - Systems Biology Analysis to Define Virulence Traits. Northwestern University, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, 2005.

- An ESAT-6 Secretion System Contributes to the Pathogenesis of S. aureus Infections. IUMS Symposium, Microbes in a Changing World, San Francisco, 2005.

- Staphylococcus aureus strategies of evading host immune responses. Ricketts Symposium, University of Chicago, 2006.

- Staphylococcus aureus strategies of evading host immune responses. Gordon Research Conference: Staphylococcal Diseases. Les Diablerets, Suisse, 2007.