Our Labs

Approaches to overcome high threat viral, bacterial and fungal infections

The challenges of global infectious diseases are more acute than ever, as high threat pathogens cause extensive morbidity and mortality. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in millions of deaths worldwide. Relatedly, epidemics of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacterial and fungal infections also result in excessive deaths and impose large costs to healthcare systems and society. Increasingly, patients with underlying immunosuppression resulting from cancer, transplantation, premature birth, burns, HIV/AIDS or other debilitating conditions are at high risk of developing high threat opportunistic infections. Drug resistance has emerged prominently among hospital and community associated Gram negative and Gram positive bacterial ESKAPE pathogens, as well sexually transmitted diseases like Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and invasive fungal pathogens (Candida glabrata, Candida auris, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis and Aspergillus fumigatus). At least 2.8 million Americans acquire serious infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, resulting in 35,000 deaths adding billions in healthcare costs.  Priority solutions to these global health emergencies include more effective diagnostics, the development of novel drug classes, vaccines, and a more comprehensive understanding of underlying disease development. The Perlin lab over the past 25 years has been actively engaged in developing novel solutions to prevent and overcome infections due to deadly bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens including the development of novel anti-infectives and diagnostics. Furthermore, they have been highly engaged in elucidating the mechanistic basis of microbial and host-induced drug tolerance and resistance leading to therapeutic failures for a variety of pathogens.

Current Grants

Select Recent Publications

• Gow NAR, Johnson C, Berman J, Coste AT, Cuomo CA, Perlin DS, Bicanic T, Harrison TS, Wiederhold N, Bromley M, Chiller T, Edgar K  The importance of antimicrobial resistance in medical mycology. Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 12;13(1):5352.
• Wang Z, Koirala B, Hernandez Y, Zimmerman M, Park S, Perlin DS, Brady SF. A naturally inspired antibiotic to target multidrug-resistant pathogens. Nature. 2022. 601(7894):606-611.
• Park S, Russo R, Westfall L, Shrestha R, Zimmerman M, Dartois V, Kurepina N, Kreiswirth B, Singleton E, Li SG, Mittal N, Ahn YM, Bilotta J, Connolly KL, Jerse AE, Freundlich JS, Perlin DS. A Novel Oral GyrB/ParE Dual Binding Inhibitor Effective against Multidrug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Other High-Threat Pathogens. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2022 Sep 20;66(9):e0041422
• Mathema B, Chen L, Wang P, Cunningham MH, Mediavilla JR, Chow KF, Luo Y, Zhao Y, Composto K, Zuckerman J, Zody MC, Wilson N, Lee A, Oschwald DM, Liu L, Iketani S, Germer S, Fennessey S, Wang M, Kramer Y, Toole P, Maniatis T, Ho DD, Perlin DS, Kreiswirth BN. Genomic Epidemiology and Serology Associated with a SARS-CoV-2 R.1 Variant Outbreak in New Jersey. mBio. 2022 Aug 23:e0214122
• Perlin DS, Neil GA, Anderson C, Zafir-Lavie I, Raines S, Ware CF, Wilkins HJ. Randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of human anti-LIGHT monoclonal antibody in COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome. J Clin Invest. 2022 Feb 1;132(3):e153173.
• Zhao Y, Lee A, Composto K, Cunningham MH, Mediavilla JR, Fennessey S, Corvelo A, Chow KF, Zody M, Chen L, Kreiswirth BN, Perlin DS. A novel diagnostic test to screen SARS-CoV-2 variants containing E484K and N501Y mutations. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2021 Dec;10(1):994-997.
• Mathema B, Chen L, Chow KF, Zhao Y, Zody MC, Mediavilla JR, Cunningham MH, Composto K, Lee A, Oschwald DM, Germer S, Fennessey S, Patel K, Wilson D, Cassell A, Pascual L, Ip A, Corvelo A, Dar S, Kramer Y, Maniatis T, Perlin DS, Kreiswirth BN. Postvaccination SARS-COV-2 among Health Care Workers in New Jersey: A Genomic Epidemiological Study. Microbiol Spectr. 2021 Dec 22;9(3):e0188221.
• Lovey A, Krel M, Borchardt A, Brady T, Cole JN, Do QQ, Fortier J, Hough G, Jiang W, Noncovich A, Tari L, Zhao Q, Balkovec JM, Zhao Y, Perlin DS. Development of Novel Immunoprophylactic Agents against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2021 Oct 18;65(11):e0098521.
• Donato ML, Park S, Baker M, Korngold R, Morawski A, Geng X, Tan M, Ip A, Goldberg S, Rowley S, Chow K, Brown E, Zenreich J, McKiernan P, Buttner K, Ullrich A, Long L, Feinman R, Ricourt A, Kemp M, Vendivil M, Suh H, Balani B, Cicogna C, Sebti R, Al-Khan A, Sperber S, Desai S, Fanning S, Arad D, Go R, Tam E, Rose K, Sadikot S, Siegel D, Gutierrez M, Feldman T, Goy A, Pecora A, Biran N, Leslie L, Gillio A, Timmapuri S, Boonstra M, Singer S, Kaur S, Richards E, Perlin DS. 2021 Clinical and laboratory evaluation of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia treated with high-titer convalescent plasma. JCI Insight. 2021 Mar 22;6(6):e143196.
• Zhao Y, Lee A, Composto K, Cunningham MH, Mediavilla JR, Fennessey S, Corvelo A, Chow KF, Zody M, Chen L, Kreiswirth BN, Perlin DS. A novel diagnostic test to screen SARS-CoV-2 variants containing E484K and N501Y mutations. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2021 Dec;10(1):994-997
• Garcia-Rubio R, Jimenez-Ortigosa C, DeGregorio L, Quinteros C, Shor E, Perlin DS. Multifactorial Role of Mitochondria in Echinocandin Tolerance Revealed by Transcriptome Analysis of Drug-Tolerant Cells. mBio. 2021 Aug 31;12(4):e0195921. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01959-21.

RECENT AWARDS

• 2019, 2020, 2022 – RO1-NJ top influencer in healthcare in New Jersey
• 2020, 2021 – Outstanding Scientist in New Jersey, Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine
• 2021 Top 25 National Innovator by Modern Healthcare.
• 2022 Top 25 Notable Health Care Leader by Crain’s New York Business.