Rate My Professor Keith Ireton

Associate Professor Keith Ireton is a microbiologist in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Health Sciences Division, at the University of Otago. He earned a BSc from Union College in 1988 and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993. He conducted postdoctoral research as a Research Fellow at the Pasteur Institute from 1995 to 1998. His career includes serving as Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto from 1999 to 2005 and Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida from 2006 to 2009, before his appointment at the University of Otago in 2010.

Ireton's research focuses on medical microbiology, microbial pathogenesis, and cellular microbiology. His laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms of virulence used by food-borne bacterial pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Key projects explore how Listeria induces internalization into host cells via the host exocyst complex and internalin A, the role of host GTPase Dynamin 2 in modulating apical junction structure for cell-to-cell spread, mechanisms of Shigella cell-to-cell spread, and pedestal formation by EPEC. Recent funding supports this work, including a Health Research Council of New Zealand project grant (22/296) and a Marsden Fund project grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand (22-UOO-098). Notable publications include 'The host GTPase Dynamin 2 modulates apical junction structure to control cell-to-cell spread of Listeria monocytogenes' (Infection & Immunity, 2024), 'Exploitation of the host exocyst complex by bacterial pathogens' (Molecular Microbiology, 2023), and 'Listeria monocytogenes co-opts the host exocyst complex to promote internalin A-mediated entry' (Infection & Immunity, 2022). Seminal earlier contributions encompass 'InlB-dependent internalization of Listeria is mediated by the Met receptor tyrosine kinase' (Cell, 2000) and 'A role for phosphoinositide 3-kinase in bacterial invasion' (Science, 1996), which have advanced understanding of host-pathogen interactions. Ireton convenes advanced courses such as MICR 480 Research Project, MICR 490 Dissertation, MICR 461 Molecular Microbiology, and others, while leading a team of PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and a laboratory manager.