Vincent A. Fischetti
Professor and Head
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University
USA
Biography
Dr. Fischetti has over 40 years experience in the anti-infectives field. He is Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology at the Rockefeller University, in NY. Over those years his laboratory has been involved in understanding the earliest events in gram-positive bacterial infection, so that strategies may be devised to prevent infection. His laboratory was the first to identify lytic enzymes as novel therapeutics to decolonize human mucous membranes of bacterial pathogens and treat systemic infections caused by these organisms. The first lysin against serious Staphylococcal infections has successfully completed phase 1 and is currently in phase 2 testing in hospitals. His laboratory also identified the mechanism by which gram-positive bacteria attach their surface proteins in the cell, which is now being used as a target for antibiotic development. Dr. Fischetti is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the National Academy of Inventors, and was the recipient of two NIH MERIT awards. He has been editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Infection and Immunity for 10 years, and serves as advisory editor for the Journal of Experimental Medicine and Trends in Microbiology among others. Dr. Fischetti serves on the scientific advisory board of ContraFect, Bioharmony, and the Trudeau institute and is also a trustee of the Trudeau Institute. He has published over 240 primary research articles, over 70 textbook chapters and is a co-editor of two major books on gram-positive pathogens. He is an inventor of over 40 issued patents dealing with the control of infectious diseases. Dr. Fischetti received a Ph.D. in Microbiology from New York University.
Research Interest
Investigates bacterial infectious disease and the use of phage enzymes and their derivatives to block infection.