Archana Shrestha, PhD

  • Research Instructor

Education & Training

  • Postdoctoral Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Microbial Pathogenesis, 2010
  • PhD in Environmental Microbiology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Japan), 2007
  • MSc in Medical Microbiology, Tribhuvan University (Nepal), 1997
  • BSc in Microbiology, Tribhuvan University (Nepal), 1994

Research Interests

I have been involved in Clostridium perfringens research since 2010 and have 16 publications on this topic.My long term goal at the University of Pittsburgh is to understand C. perfringens enterotoxin's (CPE's) unique action in human gastrointestinal diseases caused by CPE-positive type F isolates which will broaden perspectives on human GI disease, permit use of CPE as a probe of normal vs. pathophysiological intestinal function, facilitate development of CPE as an antitumor agent, and contribute to public health by reducing the incidence of CPE-associated GI diseases via improved diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.

During my 3 years Postdoctoral studies at Virginia Commonweath University I was involved in research which aimed to understand the mobilization of a pathogenic element of S. aureus via the help of a carrier bacteriophage that led to the discovery of a component of the bacteriophage that initiates the mobilization of pathogenic genes in S. aureus.