Welcome! In the Spencer lab, we study host-pathogen interactions of Gram-positive bacteria, focusing on the major neonatal pathobiont Group B Streptococcus (GBS). GBS can asymptomatically colonize the female genital tract, leading to transmission during pregnancy, as well as the neonatal GI tract. Both of these niches serve as reservoirs for neonatal bacteremia and for meningitis upon penetration of the blood-brain barrier. We are interested in how GBS factors promote colonization and systemic infection.

Specifically, we study the molecular mechanisms of the GBS type VII secretion system (T7SS) and how its secreted proteins and toxins contribute to toxicity and inflammation during pathogenesis, as well as to interbacterial competition and immune modulation during mucosal colonization. Our research is highly interdisciplinary, spanning pathogenesis, biochemistry, structural biology, immunology, reproductive and gastrointestinal biology, and the microbiome. We employ microbiological, molecular, cellular, biochemical, and immunological methods, as well as cellular and animal models, to examine the impact of the T7SS on GBS interactions with microbes and the host.