Padman Jayaratne, McMaster University
Associate Professor
Pathology & Molecular Medicine
Hamilton, Ontario
jayaratn@mcmaster.ca
Office:
(905) 522-1155 ext. 4047
Bio/Research
My primary research interest is in two areas of molecular microbiology. (A) The molecular aspects of antimicrobial drug resistance in gram-negative bacterial pathogens. This includes (1) characterization of antimicrobial drug resistance determinants and determination of their mechanism of actio...
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Bio/Research
My primary research interest is in two areas of molecular microbiology. (A) The molecular aspects of antimicrobial drug resistance in gram-negative bacterial pathogens. This includes (1) characterization of antimicrobial drug resistance determinants and determination of their mechanism of action, (2) to study the development of drug resistances under antibiotic selection pressure in the environment, and (3) to monitor the gene transfer and dissemination of resistance genes, especially in the nosocomial environment. (B) To develop and evaluate novel, rapid, cost effective molecular diagnostic methods that can be used to identify etiologic agents of infectious diseases and to determine antibiotic resistant determinants. Such methods are essential to improve the diagnostic performance of clinical microbiology laboratory and thereby to improve patient management.
During the last five years, I have been engaged in an ongoing research study in collaboration with colleagues from the University of West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago) to examine the molecular epidemiology and molecular evolution of clinical isolates of MRSA and Extended-Spectrum beta Lactamase (ESBL) producing gram-negative bacteria (i.e. E. coli and K. pneumoniae). I am also actively involved with ongoing collaborative research efforts with colleagues in the Environmental Biology Department at the University of Guelph to determine the possible link between antibiotic resistance in the environment and the clinically antibiotic resistance organisms. In addition to the aforementioned projects, I am collaborating with a number of colleagues at McMaster University on a research project to monitor antibiotic resistance genes in the Greater Toronto Area Beaches.
I have been actively involved with research and development of novel, rapid nucleic acid-based diagnostic methods that can be used cost-effectively in the routine clinical laboratory to improve patient management. I have been instrumental in developing and implementing a number of PCR-based molecular methods to detect bacterial pathogens, antibiotic resistant genes, and to type bacterial strains. This implementation has considerably reduced the turn-around time and technologists time. It has also prevented the number of nosocomial outbreaks. As a result, there have been significant savings to the laboratory and the hospital.
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During the last five years, I have been engaged in an ongoing research study in collaboration with colleagues from the University of West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago) to examine the molecular epidemiology and molecular evolution of clinical isolates of MRSA and Extended-Spectrum beta Lactamase (ESBL) producing gram-negative bacteria (i.e. E. coli and K. pneumoniae). I am also actively involved with ongoing collaborative research efforts with colleagues in the Environmental Biology Department at the University of Guelph to determine the possible link between antibiotic resistance in the environment and the clinically antibiotic resistance organisms. In addition to the aforementioned projects, I am collaborating with a number of colleagues at McMaster University on a research project to monitor antibiotic resistance genes in the Greater Toronto Area Beaches.
I have been actively involved with research and development of novel, rapid nucleic acid-based diagnostic methods that can be used cost-effectively in the routine clinical laboratory to improve patient management. I have been instrumental in developing and implementing a number of PCR-based molecular methods to detect bacterial pathogens, antibiotic resistant genes, and to type bacterial strains. This implementation has considerably reduced the turn-around time and technologists time. It has also prevented the number of nosocomial outbreaks. As a result, there have been significant savings to the laboratory and the hospital.
Click to Shrink <<