Christina Faherty Ph.D.

Education

2003, BS, Biotechnology, concentrating in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Rutgers University
2009, PhD, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Biography

Dr. Christina S. Faherty is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Biotechnology at Rutgers University, with a concentration in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Faherty then attended graduate school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where she earned her PhD in the Emerging Infectious Diseases program. Her thesis focused on the bacterial pathogen Shigella flexneri, where Dr. Faherty defined how the pathogen inhibited epithelial cell death during infection. Having gained a strong appreciation for Shigella and other enteric pathogens, Dr. Faherty performed her postdoctoral studies at the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine from 2009-2013, where she began to incorporate a greater appreciation of gastrointestinal conditions into her research. Upon successful completion of her fellowship, Dr. Faherty obtained a career development grant to begin her independent laboratory as an Assistant Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital with an affiliation at Harvard Medical School. From 2013 to 2024, Dr. Faherty's laboratory studied bacterial pathogenesis of Shigella and other enteric pathogens. In August 2024, Dr. Faherty returned to USUHS and join the MIC department as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Faherty has trained and mentored a diverse set of students and fellows throughout her career. As a first-generation PhD scientist, Dr. Faherty embraces strong mentoring practices and supportive learning environments.

Dr. Faherty's laboratory studies bacterial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, and therapeutic development. By focusing on Shigella, a pathogen that causes a significant global health burden and has continually evaded successful vaccine development, the laboratory studies how Shigella adapts to the gastrointestinal environment and successfully infects the colonic epithelium. Active projects in the laboratory include studying how:
1. Shigella resists the bactericidal nature of the gastrointestinal tract
2. Shigella regulates gene expression during gastrointestinal transit
3. Shigella initiates infection of the colonic epithelium

Through this research, the laboratory has demonstrated how Shigella resists bile salts through the use of efflux pumps, biofilm formation, and other changes. The laboratory has also identified new virulence factors expressed by Shigella in the presence of gastrointestinal signals, including adherence factors that facilitate contact of the bacteria to the colonic epithelium. The laboratory uses supplemented media and organoid-based models to study pathogenesis in conditions that replicate the gastrointestinal tract. In fact, Dr. Faherty's laboratory developed organoid infection protocols for analyses with Shigella and other enteropathogens, and further modified the organoid models for malnutrition to support research for global pathogens. Additional collaborative projects in the laboratory include studying enteric pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, and Vibrio, as well as studying microbes implicated in inflammatory bowel diseases. Finally, Dr. Faherty is working collaboratively with her former postdoctoral fellow to develop bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) as alternative therapeutic candidates. By researching pathogenesis from the perspective of the bacteria, in which the ultimate goal is to survive and spread to a new host, the laboratory aims to facilitate novel therapeutic development against these formidable pathogens.  

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

2007 - 2008: Val G. Hemming Fellowship, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

2009: Outstanding Oral Presentation, Graduate Student Colloquium, Uniformed Services University Research Day

2010: American Society for Microbiology Kadner Institute Participant

2010 - 2012: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Service Research Award

2014: Poster of Distinction Ribbon, Digestive Diseases Week Annual Meeting

2016: Speaker, Plenary Session II, World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Montreal, Canada

2019: Cover image for the journal mSphere, volume 4, issue 6

2020: Article spotlight feature for the journal Infection and Immunity, volume 88, issue 10

2021: Featured as one of 24 female leaders who graduated from USUHS in The Pulse

Representative Bibliography

Sistrunk JR, Nickerson KP, Chanin RB, Rasko DA, Faherty CS. Survival of the Fittest: How Bacterial Pathogens Utilize Bile To Enhance Infection. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2016 Oct;29(4):819-36. doi: 10.1128/CMR.00031-16. Review. PubMed PMID: 27464994; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5010752.

Nickerson KP, Chanin RB, Sistrunk JR, Rasko DA, Fink PJ, Barry EM, Nataro JP, Faherty CS. Analysis of Shigella flexneri Resistance, Biofilm Formation, and Transcriptional Profile in Response to Bile Salts. Infect Immun. 2017 Jun;85(6). doi: 10.1128/IAI.01067-16. Print 2017 Jun. PubMed PMID: 28348056; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5442615.

Llanos-Chea A, Citorik RJ, Nickerson KP, Ingano L, Serena G, Senger S, Lu TK, Fasano A, Faherty CS. Bacteriophage Therapy Testing Against Shigella flexneri in a Novel Human Intestinal Organoid-Derived Infection Model. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2019 Apr;68(4):509-516. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000002203. PubMed PMID: 30418409; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6939622.

Chanin RB, Nickerson KP, Llanos-Chea A, Sistrunk JR, Rasko DA, Kumar DKV, de la Parra J, Auclair JR, Ding J, Li K, Dogiparthi SK, Kusber BJD, Faherty CS. Shigella flexneri Adherence Factor Expression in In Vivo-Like Conditions. mSphere. 2019 Nov 13;4(6). doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00751-19. PubMed PMID: 31722995; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6854044.

Gipson KS, Nickerson KP, Drenkard E, Llanos-Chea A, Dogiparthi SK, Lanter BB, Hibbler RM, Yonker LM, Hurley BP, Faherty CS. The Great ESKAPE: Exploring the Crossroads of Bile and Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Pathogens. Infect Immun. 2020 Sep 18;88(10). doi: 10.1128/IAI.00865-19. Print 2020 Sep 18. Review. PubMed PMID: 32661122; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7504946.

Nickerson KP, Llanos-Chea A, Ingano L, Serena G, Miranda-Ribera A, Perlman M, Lima R, Sztein MB, Fasano A, Senger S, Faherty CS. A Versatile Human Intestinal Organoid-Derived Epithelial Monolayer Model for the Study of Enteric Pathogens. Microbiol Spectr. 2021 Sep 3;9(1):e0000321. doi: 10.1128/Spectrum.00003-21. Epub 2021 Jun 9. PubMed PMID: 34106568; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8552518.

Perlman M, Senger S, Verma S, Carey J, Faherty CS. A foundational approach to culture and analyze malnourished organoids. Gut Microbes. 2023 Dec;15(2):2248713. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2248713. Epub 2023 Sep 19. PubMed PMID: 37724815; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10512930.