Martin J Blaser

Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, United States of America

Martin Jack Blaser MD

Academic positions:
- Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine
- Chairman of the Department of Medicine
- Professor of Microbiology

Any industry positions (last five years):
None declared

Research interests:
The focus in Dr Blaser's laboratory is to explore the biology of H. pylori colonization and the nature of the interactions that lead to (or protect from) disease. His group are examining the variation in particular oligosaccharide (Lewis) antigens on the H. pylori cell surface and the nature of the host forces that select for cells of particular phenotypes. Disciplines involved include molecular biology, genetics, and mathematics. They are using transgenic and knockout mice to test hypotheses related to both host factors and bacterial evolution. Other projects relate to restriction-modification systems that act as barriers to horizontal gene transfer, and to a metastable "pathogenicity island" in the H. pylori genome (cag island). A third area of work relates to recombination, endogenous mutation, and DNA repair to understand their roles and regulation in the generation of diversity.

Any other information:
- Past President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
- Founder of the Foundation for Bacteriology and the Virtual Museum of Bacteria
- Member of the editorial boards of "Journal of Gastroenterology", "Helicobacter", "Journal of Clinical Investigation", "Emerging Infectious Diseases", and "Perspectives in Biology and Medicine".

Any competing interests declared are displayed with individual evaluations.

Section Head: Gastroenterology & Hepatology > Stomach & Duodenum (since 16 November 2005)

Martin J Blaser is a Section Head for Stomach & Duodenum, part of the GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY Faculty. The role of a Section Head is to work with their Co-Section Head(s) to divide the Section (sub-specialty area) into its component areas of research, nominate leaders in those areas as Faculty Members, and offer ongoing oversight of the content within their Section. They are not asked to evaluate articles, although we do, of course, welcome them.

Links

http://www.med.nyu.edu/people/blasem01.html