Mary Burtnick

Dr. Mary Burtnick is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Research in her laboratory is focused on identifying the molecular mechanisms used by Burkholderia pseudomallei to persist within eukaryotic cells. Specifically, she is interested in determining how the virulence-associated secretion systems expressed by this facultative intracellular pathogen facilitates its survival and replication within a variety of human and murine cell types. The main objective of her research is to use the information gained from these host-pathogen interaction studies to identify antigens that can be used to develop novel vaccines, diagnostics and immune assays to combat disease caused by this important bacterial pathogen.