Anna-Lisa Lawrence

Research/Areas of Interest

Lesions that form in the lung during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection are known to be highly heterogeneous. This heterogeneity includes differences in local environment, such as non-uniformity in ion or pH levels, which can affect the interactions of bacteria with the host. Changes in bacterial replication and metabolism resulting from differences in the environment can affect efficacy of drug treatments, separate from the ability of a drug to penetrate into the lesion. However, the extent and underlying causes of heterogeneity in different regions of the lesion are incompletely understood. My research aims to elucidate both bacterial and host transcriptional signatures during M. tuberculosis infection, to fully understand the spatial heterogeneity that occurs during infection.