Kim Lewis
Affiliated Faculty, Bioengineering
Professor, Biology
Contact
- k.lewis@northeastern.edu
- 306C Mugar Life Sciences
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Office
- 617.373.8238
Research Focus
Antimicrobial drug tolerance, antibiotic discovery, microbiome therapeutics
About
The focus of my research is on antimicrobial drug tolerance and drug discovery. Microorganisms produce persister cells, which are dormant variants that are highly tolerant to killing by all known antibiotics. Persisters are largely responsible for relapsing chronic infections caused by biofilms. Using transcriptome analysis, cell sorting and whole genome sequencing we are identifying genes responsible for persister formation. Both drug tolerance and conventional drug resistance require development of new antibiotics, and our discovery efforts include screening compounds from previously “uncultured” species of microorganisms, and high-throughput screening for compounds with novel mode of action.
Education
Ph.D., Biochemistry, Moscow University, Moscow, USSR
B.Sc., Biology, Moscow University, Moscow, USSR
Research Overview
Antimicrobial drug tolerance, antibiotic discovery, microbiome therapeutics
Selected Research Projects
- Friend or Foe, Determining the Pathogenic Potential of Environmental Bacteria
- – Principal Investigator, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Resolving the Bottleneck in Antibiotic Discovery
- – Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Selected Publications
- K. Lewis, The Science of Antibiotic Discovery, Cell, 181, 2020, 29-45
- Y. Imai, K.J. Meyer, A. Iinishi, Q. Favre-Godal, R. Green, S. Manuse, A. O’Rourke, K. Lewis, et al., A New Antibiotic Selectively Kills Gram-Negative Pathogens, Nature, 576, 2019, 459-464
- B.P. Conlon, S.E. Rowe, A. Brown Gandt, A.S. Nuxoll, N.P. Donegan, E.A. Zalis, G. Clair, J.N. Adkins, A.L. Cheung, K. Lewis, ATP Depletion is Associated with Antibiotic Tolerance in Staphylococcus Aureus, Nature Microbiology, 1, 2016, 1-7
- L.L. Ling, T. Schneider, A.J. Peoples, A.L. Spoering, I. Engels, B.P. Conlon, A. Mueller, T.F. Schäberle, D.E. Hughes, S. Epstein, M. Jones, L. Lazarides, V.A. Steadman, D.R. Cohen, C.R. Felix, K.A. Fetterman, W.P. Millett, A.G. Nitti, A.M. Zullo, C. Chen, K. Lewis, A New Antibiotic Kills Pathogens Without Detectable Resistance, Nature, 517, 2015, 455-459
- M.A. Schumacher, P. Balani, J. Min, N.B. Chinnam, S. Hansen, M. Vulic, K. Lewis, R.G. Brennan HipAB–Promoter Structures Reveal the Basis of Heritable Multidrug Tolerance, Nature, 524, 2015, 59-64
- B.P. Conlon, E.S. Nakayasu, L.E. Fleck, M.D. LaFleur, V.M. Isabella, K. Coleman, S.N. Leonard, R.D. Smith, J.N. Adkins, K. Lewis, Activated ClpP Kills Persisters and Eradicates a Chronic Biofilm Infection, Nature, 503, 2013, 365-370
Dec 07, 2023
2023 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes those […]
Nov 02, 2022
2022 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes […]
Apr 09, 2019
FY20 TIER 1 Award Recipients
25 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY20 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 18 different projects representing up to $900K dollars of investment in research.
Mar 23, 2017
FY18 TIER 1 Award Recipients
21 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY18 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 12 different projects representing $600K dollars of investment in research.
Apr 06, 2011
FY12 TIER 1 Award Recipients
28 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY12 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 18 different research projects.