Rate My Professor Ian Peak

Peak's research centers on microbial pathogenesis, host innate immune responses to bacteria and their secreted products, quorum signaling, and bacterial surface structures. His work examines phase variation in pathogenic Neisseria species, lipooligosaccharide and capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis in Moraxella species relevant to otitis media vaccine development, and virulence mechanisms in Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. He has contributed to studies on sepsis treatments, with experimental drugs advancing to clinical trials. Key publications include 'Opc- and pilus-dependent interactions of meningococci with human endothelial cells: molecular mechanisms and modulation by surface polysaccharides' (1995), 'Molecular analysis of a locus for the biosynthesis and phase-variable expression of the lacto-N-neotetraose terminal lipopolysaccharide structure in Neisseria meningitidis' (1995), 'A Type IV Pilin, PilA, Contributes to Adherence of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Virulence In Vivo' (2005), 'A Genomic Survey of Positive Selection in Burkholderia pseudomallei Provides Insights into the Evolution of Accidental Virulence' (2010), and recent articles such as 'Isolation and characterisation of a heparosan capsular polysaccharide and a core oligosaccharide from Moraxella lincolnii strain CCUG 52988' (2024) and 'Characterisation of a capsular polysaccharide from Moraxella nonliquefaciens CCUG 348T' (2024). His scholarship has garnered significant citations, influencing vaccine and therapeutic strategies against bacterial infections.