TRAC Seminar Series
The Tuberculosis Research Advancement Center (TRAC) Seminar will be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2025 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET in CRB-2, 1M.13 or via Zoom.
“Investigating the protective effects of M. bovis BCG therapy against dementia in a mouse model of Tauopathy”
Somnath Shee, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Laboratory of Dr. William Bishai
Center for Tuberculosis Research
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine
I earned my PhD (2022) in “Molecular pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis” from Dr. Amit Singh’s laboratory, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. During my graduate program, (1) I utilized high-throughput technologies (transposon mutagenesis, FACS, and Illumina sequencing) combined with a redox-biosensor tool to identify the complete genomic requirement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) for maintaining basal redox homeostasis. Disrupting this homeostasis increased bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics and host stress (PMID: 37642294); (2) I described a novel Mtb response to moxifloxacin (a key drug for MDR-TB). Unlike non-pathogenic E. coli, Mtb reduced respiration when challenged with moxifloxacin. Notably, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) restored respiration, enhanced ROS production, increased drug lethality, and limited resistance emergence in mice (PMID: 35975988). This work highlights NAC’s potential to enhance fluoroquinolone efficacy.
My postdoctoral research (2022-present) in Prof. Bishai’s laboratory is to discover molecular mechanisms that unify major determinants of Tuberculosis (TB) disease (malnutrition, smoking, aging, among others). We identified a signature of senescent myeloid cells in the lung from TB-susceptible mouse models that form human-like necrotic granulomas. Currently, we are working to repurpose senolytics as host-directed therapy to target TB.
In addition to this project, I am actively involved in developing mycobacteria-based preventive therapy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I’ll discuss the major findings of this research in this TRAC seminar.
The October TRAC seminars are presented by the Microbiology, Immunology, Animal Modeling & Imaging (MIAMI) Core.
Join via Zoom: Updated link will require Passcode
Topic: TRAC Seminar Series
Time: Every week on Wednesday at 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://jhjhm.zoom.us/j/94704979755
Meeting ID: 947 0497 9755
Passcode: 179967