Our Faculty

Eric Gerd Pamer, MD

Humans and other mammals are colonized by complex populations of microbes that constitute the microbiota. Some commensal bacteria enhance immune defenses by inducing host expression of antimicrobial factors while others secrete antimicrobial molecules that inhibit pathogens. We study interactions between pathogenic and beneficial bacteria and their mammalian hosts. Our laboratory’s research focuses on a wide range of commensal bacteria that have been characterized at the genomic, proteomic and metabolomic level and we are using gnotobiotic mice to test assembled commensal consortia for their ability to enhance resistance against pathogenic bacteria. Using these platforms, we have identified multiple novel mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance that can be exploited to reduce the risk of infection by highly antibiotic-resistant pathogens.



Our laboratory has worked closely with clinical groups to investigate the role of the microbiota in clinical outcomes. We have demonstrated that loss of microbiota diversity during allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation adversely impacts outcomes and have investigated the impact of microbiota composition on the risk of developing colitis during checkpoint blockade cancer immunotherapy.

University of California, San Diego
San Diego, California
- Medicine/Infectious Diseases
1990

Case Western School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio
MD - Medicine
1982

Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
BA - Biology
1977

Comprehensive analyses of a large human gut Bacteroidales culture collection reveal species and strain level diversity and evolution.
Comprehensive analyses of a large human gut Bacteroidales culture collection reveal species and strain level diversity and evolution. bioRxiv. 2024 Mar 09.
PMID: 38496653

Activity of Gut-Derived Nisin-like Lantibiotics against Human Gut Pathogens and Commensals.
Activity of Gut-Derived Nisin-like Lantibiotics against Human Gut Pathogens and Commensals. ACS Chem Biol. 2024 Feb 16; 19(2):357-369.
PMID: 38293740

Dietary- and host-derived metabolites are used by diverse gut bacteria for anaerobic respiration.
Dietary- and host-derived metabolites are used by diverse gut bacteria for anaerobic respiration. Nat Microbiol. 2024 Jan; 9(1):55-69.
PMID: 38177297

Exposure and resistance to lantibiotics impact microbiota composition and function.
Exposure and resistance to lantibiotics impact microbiota composition and function. bioRxiv. 2023 Dec 30.
PMID: 38234830

Fecal metabolite profiling identifies liver transplant recipients at risk for postoperative infection.
Fecal metabolite profiling identifies liver transplant recipients at risk for postoperative infection. Cell Host Microbe. 2024 Jan 10; 32(1):117-130.e4.
PMID: 38103544

An evolution-based framework for describing human gut bacteria.
An evolution-based framework for describing human gut bacteria. bioRxiv. 2023 Dec 05.
PMID: 38105970

Author Correction: Gut microbiome correlates of response and toxicity following anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapy.
Author Correction: Gut microbiome correlates of response and toxicity following anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapy. Nat Med. 2023 Nov; 29(11):2954.
PMID: 36253610

Bifidobacteria metabolize lactulose to optimize gut metabolites and prevent systemic infection in patients with liver disease.
Bifidobacteria metabolize lactulose to optimize gut metabolites and prevent systemic infection in patients with liver disease. Nat Microbiol. 2023 Nov; 8(11):2033-2049.
PMID: 37845315

Virulence and genomic diversity among clinical isolates of ST1 (BI/NAP1/027) Clostridioides difficile.
Virulence and genomic diversity among clinical isolates of ST1 (BI/NAP1/027) Clostridioides difficile. Cell Rep. 2023 08 29; 42(8):112861.
PMID: 37523264

The TaxUMAP atlas: Efficient display of large clinical microbiome data reveals ecological competition in protection against bacteremia.
The TaxUMAP atlas: Efficient display of large clinical microbiome data reveals ecological competition in protection against bacteremia. Cell Host Microbe. 2023 07 12; 31(7):1126-1139.e6.
PMID: 37329880

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