James Cassat
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease
Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research Focus
The Cassat Laboratory studies how infection and inflammation perturb skeletal cell biology, with a special emphasis on osteo-immunologic crosstalk and osteomyelitis (invasive infection of bone). Current research projects in the lab seek to: 1) define how bacterial pathogens initiate osteomyelitis and alter bone remodeling, 2) test new therapies for musculoskeletal infection, 3) investigate the impact of innate immune signaling on osteoclast and osteoblast differentiation and function, 4) elucidate how intestinal inflammation impacts bone homeostasis, and 5) dissect the metabolic and virulence programs used by Staphylococcus aureus to sustain infection.