Julian Hurdle, Ph.D.

Education and Training

• University of West Indies, Barbados, BS, 2000
• University of Leeds, UK, PhD, 2005
• University of Tennessee HSC, Postdoctoral, 2009

Research Interests

• Dr. Hurdle's research centers on three themes: (1) how Clostridium difficile evolves resistance to front-line antibiotics and the clinical impact of resistance on treatment outcomes; (2) discovery of novel therapeutic concepts for antibiotic-resistant infections; and (3) applying chemical genetic strategies to understand C. difficile pathogenic mechanisms. The research environment is multi-disciplinary: ranging from use of phenotypic and enzyme-based high-throughput screening of chemical libraries to discover molecular probes and drug lead candidates; elucidating biological targets and action of candidate compounds using genomics, chemical genetics and molecular biology; and use of animal models of infection to answer questions in vivo. The newly initiated, extramurally funded research across each theme is transformative. Hurdle collaborates closely with medicinal chemists, structural biologists, genomicists and clinical scientists to achieve the goal of translating discoveries that impact human health.