The Spencer lab studies host-pathogen interactions of Gram-positive bacteria, focusing on the major neonatal pathobiont Group B Streptococcus (GBS). GBS can asymptomatically colonize the female genital tract, leading to transmission during pregnancy, and the neonatal GI tract, and both these niches serve as reservoirs for neonatal bacteremia and meningitis upon penetration of the blood-brain barrier. We are interested in how GBS factors promote colonization and systemic infection.

Specifically, we study the molecular mechanisms of the type VII secretion system (T7SS) in Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and how its secreted proteins and toxins contribute to toxicity and inflammation during pathogenesis, as well as to mucosal colonization/niche establishment by outcompeting other bacteria and modulating the immune response. Our research is highly interdisciplinary, spanning pathogenesis, biochemistry, structural biology, immunology, reproductive and gastrointestinal biology, and the microbiome. We employ microbiological, molecular, cellular, biochemical, and immunological methods, as well as cellular and animal models, to examine the impact of the T7SS on GBS interactions with microbes and the host.