Rate My Professor Robert Clubb

Clubb's research focuses on the molecular mechanisms driving Gram-positive bacterial pathogenesis. His lab elucidates how pathogens assemble pili and surface structures for host tissue adherence, biofilm formation, and immune evasion; how they scavenge heme-iron from human hemoglobin to support virulence; and the function of cellulosomes in degrading plant polysaccharides, informing bioenergy, biotechnology, and microbiome studies. Notable publications include "Structure of sortase, the transpeptidase that anchors proteins to the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2001), "Transient Weak Protein-Protein Complexes Transfer Heme Across the Cell Wall of Staphylococcus aureus" (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2011), "Sortase-assembled pili in Corynebacterium diphtheriae are built using a latch mechanism" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021), "The Shr receptor from Streptococcus pyogenes uses a 'cap and release' mechanism to acquire heme-iron from human hemoglobin" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023), and "Molecular basis of hemoglobin capture by Corynebacterium diphtheriae" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2025). With over 6,000 citations across 174 publications, his work advances understanding of bacterial virulence and inspires anti-infective therapeutics. Clubb received the 2014 Distinguished Graduate Lecturer award from the University of Michigan, the 1995 National Institutes of Health Research Fellowship, and the 1993 Leukemia Society of America Post-Doctoral Fellowship.