Professor Michael Mahan's research concerns the molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis, and immune responses to infection and microbial sepsis. He received his B.S. degree in Biochemistry and M.S. degree in Genetics from the University of California, Davis; and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Utah. He was a NIH post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School where he began his work on the molecular mechanisms of underlying Salmonella pathogenesis. Dr. Mahan joined the UCSB faculty in 1993 and was co-founder and Director of Remedyne Corporation, a biotech company in Santa Barbara, California.

The Mahan lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying microbial pathogenesis and the associated innate and adaptive immune responses that increase disease and compromise host immunity. The applied goal is to translate this research into effective therapeutic strategies for the treatment of multidrug-resistant pathogens and microbial sepsis.

Barnes, L.V., D.M. Heithoff, S.P. Mahan, G.N. Fox, A. Zambrano, J. Choe, L.N. Fitzgibbons, J.D. Marth, J.C. Fried, H.T. Soh, and M.J. Mahan. (2018). Smartphone-based pathogen diagnosis in urinary sepsis patients. EbioMedicine, 36, 73-82. Yang, W.H, D.M. Heithoff, P. Aziz, B. Haslund-Gourney, J.S. Westman, S. Narisawa, A.B. Pinkerton, J.L. Millan, V. Nizet, M.J. Mahan, and J.D. Marth. (2018). Accelerated aging and clearance of host anti-inflammatory enzymes by discrete pathogens fuels sepsis. Cell Host Microbe, 24, 500–513. Yang, W.H., D.M. Heithoff, P. Aziz, M. Speradino, V. Nizet, M.J. Mahan, and J.D. Marth. (2017). Recurrent infection progressively disables host protection against intestinal inflammation. Science, 358, eaao5610. Ersoy, S.C., D.M. Heithoff, L. Barnes V, G.K. Tripp, J.K. House, J.D. Marth, J.W. Smith, and M.J. Mahan. (2017). Correcting a fundamental flaw in the paradigm for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. EbioMedicine, 20, 173-181. [see Commentary, EbioMedicine, 22, 26-27]. Kubicek-Sutherland, J.Z., D.M. Heithoff, S.C. Ersoy, W.R. Shimp, J.K. House, J.D. Marth, J.W. Smith, and M.J. Mahan. (2015). Host-dependent induction of transient antibiotic resistance: a prelude to treatment failure. EBioMedicine, 2:1169–1178. Yang, W.H., P.V. Aziz, D.M. Heithoff, M.J. Mahan, J.W. Smith and J.D. Marth. (2015). An intrinsic mechanism of secreted protein aging and turnover. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112, 13657-13662. Heithoff, D.M., J. K. House, P.C. Thomson and M.J. Mahan. (2015). Development of a Salmonella cross-protective vaccine for food animal production systems. Vaccine 33:100–107. Patterson, A.S., D.M. Heithoff, B.S. Ferguson, H.T. Soh, M.J. Mahan, and K.W. Plaxco. (2013). Microfluidic chip-based detection and intraspecies strain discrimination of Salmonella serovars derived from whole blood of septic mice. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 79: 2302-2311. Mahan, M.J., J.K. Kubicek-Sutherland, and D.M. Heithoff. (2013). Rise of the microbes. Virulence, 4: 213–222. Heithoff, D.M., W.R. Shimp, J.K. House, Y. Xie, B. C. Weimer, R. L. Sinsheimer, and M. J. Mahan. (2012). Intraspecies variation in emergence of hyperinfectious bacterial strains in nature. PLoS Pathogens. 8(4): e1002647. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002647