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Victor Nizet

Vice Chair for Basic Research in the Department of Pediatrics, Chief of the Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics

Research Interests

  • Group A Streptococcal and Staphylococcal Infections
  • Bacterial Pathogenesis & Innate Immunity
  • Novel Antimicrobial Therapies

At the Bench

Victor Nizet is a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Vice Chair for Basic Research, and Chief of the Division of Host-Microbe Systems & Therapeutics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and Distinguished Professor at UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. A graduate of Reed College, Dr. Nizet received his medical training at Stanford University School of Medicine, completed a Residency and Chief Residency in Pediatrics at Harvard University's Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and a then a Fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington’s Children's Hospital in Seattle. Dr. Nizet is the head of the UCSD Collaborative to Halt Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes (CHARM), a multidisciplinary research and educational program that debuted in 2019. Dr. Nizet has authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications and has collaborated with several biotechnology interests in developing new antibiotic and immune-based therapies against drug-resistant pathogens.

Academic Appointments

Year Position
2015-Present Vice Chair for Basic Research, Department of Pediatrics, UCSD School of Medicine
2015-Present Chief, Division of Host-Microbe Systems & Therapeutics
2007-Present Professor of Pediatrics, UCSD School of Medicine
2007-Present Professor of Pharmacy, UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
2006-2015 Chief, Division of Pediatric Pharmacology & Drug Discovery, UCSD School of Medicine
2006-2007 Associate Professor, UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
2003-2007 Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UCSD School of Medicine
1997-2003 Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSD School of Medicine
1996-1997 Acting Instructor, Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Education & Clinical Training

University Degree Year Field
Children's Hospital, University of Washington, Seattle WA Fellowship 1993-1996 Pediatrics Infectious Diseases
Children's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston MA Chief Resident 1992-1993 Pediatrics
Children's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston MA Residency 1989-1992 Pediatrics
Stanford University, Stanford CA M.D. 1989 Medicine
Reed College, Portland OR B.A. 1984 Biology

 

Honors

Year Honor/Award
2023 Elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)
2022 Elected Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
2022  Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2022  D.C. White Award for Interdisciplinary Research & Mentoring, American Society for Microbiology
2022  Web of Science Group/Institute for Scientific Information Highly Cited Researcher (Cross-Field)
2021  Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) Horizon Prize: Multidimensional Click Chemistry (Team)
2019  Web of Science Group/Institute for Scientific Information Highly Cited Researcher (Cross-Field)
2019  NIH/NIAID Merit Award (Cathelicidins in Skin Immunity, with Richard Gallo)
2018  Inaugural UCSD Office of Faculty Affairs Award for Excellence in Junior Faculty Mentoring
2017  UCSD Chancellor’s Associates Award for Excellence in Research in Science and Engineering
2013  UCSD Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring
2013  Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego Award for Excellence in Research
2012  Elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology
2010  Elected to Membership in the Association of American Physicians
2008  E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics, Society for Pediatric Research
2008  Stephen Silberstein Senior Fellow of the American Asthma Foundation
2006  Elected to Membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation
2006  Elected to the American Pediatric Society
2004  Career Investigator Award, American Lung Association
2004  Established Investigator Award, American Heart Association
2002  Named the 39th Mallinckrodt Scholar by the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation
2002  Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Young Investigator Award
2002  Elected to the Society for Pediatric Research
2001  UCSD Department of Pediatrics Commitment to Resident Education Award
2000  UCSD Department of Pediatrics Outstanding Faculty Teacher of the Year
1993  Sidney Farber Outstanding House Officer Award, Children’s Hospital, Boston
1984  Class of 1922 Award, Reed College, “Most Outstanding Senior Thesis”
1984  Phi Beta Kappa, Reed College

Publications

X Liu, Van Maele L, Matarazzo L, Soulard DS, Duarte da Silva VA, de Bakker V, Dénéréaz J, Bock FP, Taschner M, Gruber S, Nizet V, Sirard JC, Veening JW. A conserved antigen induces respiratory Th17-mediated serotypeindependent protection against pneumococcal superinfection. Cell Host Microbe. 2024:S1931-3128(24)00037-4. PMID: 38417443.

Lupieri A, S A Passos L, Levine RA, Nizet V, Aikawa E. Lymphangiogenesis in rheumatic heart valve disease: a new factor in the pathogenic conundrum. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2024 Feb 15. PMID: 38357818.

Ngo TE, Ecker A, Ryu B, Guild A, Remmel A, Boudreau PD, Alexander KL, Naman CB, Glukhov E, Avalon NE, Shende VV, Thomas L, Dahesh S, Nizet V, Gerwick L, Gerwick WH. Structure and biosynthesis of hectoramide B, a linear depsipeptide from marine cyanobacterium Moorena producens JHB discovered via coculture with Candida albicans. ACS Chem Biol 2024 2024 Feb 8. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00391. PMID: 38330248.

Zhang Y, Bharahthi V, Dokoshi T, de Anda J, Tumey Ursery L, Kulkarni NN, Chen J, Luo EWC, Wang L, Xu H, Coady A, Zurich R, Lee MW, Matsui T, Lee HK, Chan LC, Schepmoes AA, Lipton MS, Zhao R, Adkins JN, Clair G, Thurlow LR, Schisler J, Wolfgang MC, Hagan RS, Yeaman MR, Weiss TM, Chen X, Li MMH, Nizet V, Antoniak S, Mackman N, Gallo RL, Wong GCL. Viral afterlife: SARS-CoV-2 as a reservoir of immunomimetic peptides that reassemble into pro-inflammatory supramolecular complexes. PNAS 2024; 121:e2300644120. PMID: 38306481.

Abdul-Mutakabbir JC, Opoku NS, Tan KK, Jorth P, Nizet V, Fletcher HM, Kaye KS, Rybak MJ. Determining susceptibility and potential mediators of resistance for the novel polymyxin derivative, SPR206, in Acinetobacter baumannii. Antibiotics (Basel) 2024;13:47. PMID: 38247606; PMCID: PMC10812597.

Menon ND, Somanath P, Jossart J, Vijayakumar G, Shetty K, Baswe M, Chatterjee M, Hari MB, Nair S, Kumar VA, Nair BG, Nizet V, Perry JJP, Kumar GB. Comparative molecular profiling of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa identifies novel mutations in regional clinical isolates from South India. JAC Antimicrob Resist 2024;6:dlae001. PMID: 38230352; PMCID: PMC10789591.

Menon ND, Poudel S, Sastry AV, Rychel K, Szubin R, Dillon N, Tsunemoto H, Hirose Y, Nair BG, Kumar GB, Palsson BO, Nizet V. Independent component analysis reveals 49 independently modulated gene sets within the global transcriptional regulatory architecture of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. mSystems. 2024:e0060623. PMID: 38189271.

Bjånes E, Koh T, Qayum T, Zurich R, McCabe S, Hampel K, Cartwright L, Nizet V. Exploring roles of the polysaccharide capsule in pathogenesis of hypervirulent Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolate Lac-4. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023;13(1):10. PMID: 38275320; PMCID: PMC10812722.

McCabe S, Bjånes E, Hendriks A, Wang Z, van Sorge NM, Pill-Pepe L, Bautista L, Chu E, Codée JDC, Fairman J, Kapoor N, Uchiyama S, Nizet V. The group A streptococcal vaccine candidate VAX-A1 protects against group B Streptococcus infection via cross-reactive IgG targeting virulence factor C5a peptidase. Vaccines (Basel) 2023;11:1811. PMID: 38140215; PMCID: PMC10747066.

Rudd SR, Miranda LS, Curtis HR, Bigot Y, Diaz-Mendoza M, Hice R, Nizet V, Park HW, Blaha G, Federici BA, Bideshi DK. The parasporal body of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis: a unique phage capsid-associated prokaryotic insecticidal organelle. Biology (Basel) 2023;12:1421. PMID: 37998020; PMCID: PMC10669011.

Sakoulas G, Nizet V. Measuring beta-lactam minimum inhibitory concentrations in Staphylococcus aureus in the clinical microbiology laboratory: pinning the tail on the donkey. J Clin Microbiol 2024;62:e0036623. PMID: 37966224; PMCID: PMC10793257.

Askarian F, Tsai CM, Cordarab G, Zurich RH, Bjånes E, Goltenc O, Sørensen HV, Kousha A, Meier A, Chikwatie E, Bruun JA, Ludviksen JA, Choudhury B, Trieu D, Davis S, Edvardsen PKT, Mollnes TE, Liu GY, Krengel U, Conrad DJ, Vaaje-Kolstad G, Nizet V. Immunization with lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase CbpD induces protective immunity against lethal Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia. PNAS 2023; 20:e2301538120. PMID: 37459522 PMCID: PMC10372616.

Wang KC, Kuliyev E, Nizet V, Ghosh P. A conserved 3D pattern in a Streptococcus pyogenes M protein immunogen elicits M-type crossreactivity. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:104980. PMID: 37390991 PMCID: PMC10400905

Mohanty T, Karlsson CAQ, Chao Y, Malmström E, Bratanis E, Grentzmann A, Mørch M, Nizet V, Malmström L, Linder A, Shannon O, Malmström J. A pharmacoproteomic landscape of organotypic intervention responses in Gram negative sepsis. Nat Commun 2023;14:3603 PMID: 37330510; PMCID: PMC10276868.

Hirose Y, Poudel S, Sastry A, Rychel K, Zielinski D, Lim H, Menon N, Bergsten H, Uchiyama SA, Hanada T, Kawabata S, Palsson BO, Nizet V. Elucidation of independently modulated genes in Streptococcus pyogenes reveals carbon sources that control its expression of hemolytic toxins. mSystems 2023;e0024723; PMID: 37278526.