Eric P. Skaar

Eric P. Skaar is an American microbiologist, the Ernest W. Goodpasture Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and a University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University.

Education and career Skaar earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996, and his Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis and Master’s Degree in Public Health in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Northwestern University in 2002. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Microbiology at the University of Chicago, Skaar joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2005 as an assistant professor, and was named to the endowed Ernest W. Goodpasture Chair in Pathology in 2012.

He is the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and the Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation (VI4).

The Skaar laboratory focuses on nutritional immunity which studies that aspect of the innate immune response to infectious diseases. They have studied (i) nutrient acquisition by bacterial pathogens, (ii) how vertebrate immune proteins sequester nutrients during the pathogenesis of infection and cancer, (iii) competition for nutrients between pathogens and the healthy microbiome, and (iv) the impact of diet on infection. In addition, the Skaar laboratory has reported the discovery of iron storage organelles in Gram positive bacteria called ferrosomes, and bacterial hydrophilins that promote desiccation resistance in hospital acquired pathogens.

Awards

Skaar is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (ASM) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Nature medicine 22 (11), pgs: 1330-1334

Cassat JE, Skaar EP (2013). Iron in Infection and Immunity. Cell host & microbe 13 (5), pgs: 509-519

Hood MI, Skaar EP (2012). Nutritional immunity: transition metals at the pathogen–host interface. Nature Reviews Microbiology 10 (8), pgs: 525-537

Corbin BD... Skaar EP (2008). Metal Chelation and Inhibition of Bacterial Growth in Tissue Abscesses. Science 305 (5690), pgs:1626-1628

Skaar EP... Schneewind O (2004). Iron-Source Preference of Staphylococcus aureus Infections. Science 305 (5690), pgs:1626-1628