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K-State Today

November 28, 2016

BRI Research Fellows Lecture by Paul Keim Nov. 29

Submitted by Biosecurity Research Institute

Paul Keim, executive director of the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University, will present "Genomic Analysis to Characterize Disease Outbreaks: Studies from Anthrax, Plague and Cholera," at 3 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Lecture Hall of the Biosecurity Research Institute. This lecture is supported by the Marty Vanier and Bob Krause BRI Research Fellows Program. 

The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute uses genomic tools for understanding infectious diseases and the microbiome. Keim's research employs genetic and genomic analyses for understanding the bacterial pathogen population structure of dangerous pathogens — anthrax, plague, tularemia, glanders, melioidosis, Q fever — and evolution. Linking the populations to their ecology has been a critical part of his program. It was Keim's laboratory that identified the Ames anthrax strain in the 2001 letter attacks and served as the evidence repository and genetic analysis lab for the FBI during the investigation.

Keim is recognized as one of the world's leaders in anthrax research and his university laboratory houses one of the largest anthrax strain collections in the world. He is an elected fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy for Microbiology. The National Institutes of Health appointed him to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity in 2015 and he served as its chairman for two years.