Welcome!

The Mobley Lab was established in 1984 in the Division of Infectious Diseases at The University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. The lab moved to The Department of Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the summer of 2004. The Lab comprised research professors, research technicians, undergraduates, graduate/doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows dedicated to performing cutting edge research in the field of bacteriology. Since its inception, the lab produced over 275 publications and trained more than 70 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Mobley retired in 2024 after 20 years at Michigan.

Lab interests are now continuing independently at Michigan by Drs. Melanie Pearson and Mark Anderson.

Mobley Lab, February 2023

Research Projects:

-Molecular mechanisms of uropathogenesis in E. coli and P. mirabilis

-E. coli virulence gene expression during clinical UTIs in women

-Virulence and fitness factors of Gram-negative bacteremia

Recent News and Announcements

May 2025: Post-doctoral trainees Surbhi Gupta and Santosh Paudel are both awarded UTIGA travel scholarships for their ASM Microbe abstracts. Surbhi and Santosh will present their research at ASM Microbe in Los Angeles this summer.

May 2025: Congratulations to new graduate Victor Jia who has earned a Bachelor of Science with honors. Under Dr. Mark Anderson's direction Victor performed research for his thesis entitled “The accessory genome of Serratia marcescens clinical lineages contributes to pathogenicity”. Victor has taken a position in the Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School.

May 2025: Alyssa Clemens and Zaiye (Simon) Yan graduate from the M&I Master's Program. Alyssa is pursuing opportunities in the biotech industry. Simon will pursue his PhD with Dr. Jenny Rohn at University College London. We wish both of them the best!

April 2025: We congratulate Alyssa Clemens as she successful completes her Master's thesis entitled: "Fatty acid metabolism in Escherichia coli during urinary tract infection".

April 2025: "Infection characteristics among Serratia marcescens capsule lineages" is published in mBio.

December 2024: Dr. Madison Fitzgerald received her doctoral hood at Winter Commencement at Crisler Arena. Congratulations Madison!

December 2024: Grant Spangler joins the lab as a Master's student. Welcome!

October 2024: "Development of a suite of Proteus mirabilis-derived urea-inducible promoters" is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

October 2024: "Bloodstream infections: mechanisms of pathogenesis and opportunities for intervention" is published in Nature Reviews Microbiology.

October 2024: Former postdoctoral fellow Dr. Laura Mike, Associate Professor, Dept. of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pittsburgh returns to present "Unmasking Klebsiella control of exopolysaccharides" as part of M&I's weekly seminar series.

September 2024: Congratulations to Dr. Geoffrey Severin on accepting position of Research Assistant Professor at Michigan State University.

September 2024: Mobley lab welcomes undergraduate work-study student Olivia Moxey!

September 2024: Dr. Melanie Pearson attends the 30th Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington to present "The Ins and Outs of Proteus mirabilis Sugar Transport during Urinary Tract Infection." (poster)

September 2024: Dr. Harry LT Mobley presents his final seminar at Michigan "Movin' on up: Bladder to kidney to bloodstream".

September 2024: The University of Michigan Medical School publishes an article entitled "Harry L.T. Mobley, Ph.D.: 40 years of research and mentorship excellence" highlighting Dr. Mobley's career and retirement.

August 2024: Dr. Harry L.T. Mobley presents "Science as a Ticket Around the World: Photographs and Stories Along the Way" a collection of stories and photographs taken over his career while traveling to national and international meetings, speaking tours, and individual seminars.

August 2024: "Fitness factor genes conserved within the multi-species core genome of Gram-negative Enterobacterales species contribute to bacteremia pathogenesis" is published in PLoS Pathogens.

July 2024: "Iron limitation induces motility in uropathogenic E. coli CFT073 partially through action of LpdA" is published in mBio.

July 2024: Dr. Harry LT Mobley delivered UTIGA's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Presentation "UPEC: From MRHA to Gene Expression during UTI" at the 5th Clinical and Scientific Advances in Urinary Tract Infections. He was introduced by Chelsie Armbruster with additional notes in absentia from Sarguru Subash. Congratulations Harry!

July 2024: The Mobley lab attends the 5th Clinical and Scientific Advances in Urinary Tract Infections. Dr. Surbhi Gupta received a travel award from the UTI Global Alliance to support her travel. The following research was presented by lab members:

"Characterization of putative amino acid transporter Yhd from Uropathogenic Escherichia coli CFT073." - Dr. Surbhi Gupta, Poster

"The Ins and Outs of Proteus mirabilis Sugar Transport during Urinary Tract Infection." - Dr. Melanie Pearson (poster) and lab alumna Dr. Allyson Shea (talk)

July 2024: Congratulations to Dr. Melanie Pearson who was notified of her promotion to Research Associate Professor. The Microbiology and Immunology department hosted a party celebrating this accomplishment.

June 2024: The Mobley lab attends ASM Microbe in Atlanta, GA. The following research was presented by lab members:

"Fitness Factor Genes Conserved within the Multi-species Core Genome of Gram-negative Enterobacterales Species Contribute to Bacteremia Pathogenesis." - Dr. Harry LT Mobley, Poster

"Make or take: acquisition of branched-chain amino acids by Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli during urinary tract infection." - Dr. Melanie Pearson, Poster

"Identifying Serratia marcescens pathotype genes and their contributions to infection fitness." - Stephanie Himpsl, Poster

"Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to measure in vivo growth rate of uropathogenic E. coli during urinary tract infection." - Dr. Santosh Paudel, Poster.

June 2024: Congratulations to Dr. Madison Fitzgerald on a successful thesis defense!

June 2024: Former postdoctoral fellow Dr. Amanda Starr was hired as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Longwood University. Congrats Amanda!

May 2024: The Michigan Medicine Health Lab publishes an article highlighting our recent work to understand the importance of nutrient transport to uropathogenic Escherichia coli during UTI.

April 2024: Alyssa Clemens joins the laboratory as a Master's student. Welcome!

April 2024: Madison Fitzgerald attends the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona, Spain.

April 2024: "Emerging roles for ABC transporters as virulence factors in uropathogenic Escherichia coli" is published in PNAS.

March 2024: "Proteus mirabilis UreR coordinates cellular functions required for urease activity" is published in the Journal of Bacteriology.

March 2024: Zaiye (Simon) Yan joins the laboratory to work towards a Master's thesis. Welcome!

October 2023: "Organ agar serves as physiologically relevant alternative for in vivo bacterial colonization" is published in Infection & Immunity. An image from the article was selected for the issue's cover.

October 2023: Dr. Melanie Pearson and Madison Fitzgerald attend the Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

September 2023: "Conserved metabolic regulator ArcA responds to oxygen availability, iron limitation, and cell envelope perturbations during bacteremia" is published in mBio.

July 2023: Congratulations to Dr. Aric Brown on defending his dissertation!

June 2023: Congratulations to Maggie Gaca on accecpting a position as a Training Specialist with Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine at the University of Michigan!

June 2023: The Mobley lab attends ASM Microbe in Houston, TX. The following research was presented by lab members:

"Eat Dessert First: The Ins and Outs of Proteus mirabilis Sugar Transport During Urinary Tract Infection" – Dr. Melanie Pearson, Poster

"Contributions of Serratia marcescens Polysaccharide Capsule to Disseminated Infection" - Dr. Mark Anderson, Poster

"Enhanced Motility in Response to Iron-Limitation is a Common Mechanism Across Uropathogens" – Dr. Allyson Shea, Rapid Fire Talk and Poster

"Developing a Universal Molecular Tool for Curing Native Plasmids from Diverse Bacterial Species" - Christina Kiser, Poster

"An All-Inclusive Regulon: Proteus mirabilis UreR Regulates Both Urease and Nickel Transport" - Madison Fitzgerald, Poster

"Shikimate Biosynthesis Contributes to Citrobacter freundii Fitness During Bacteremia" - Dr. Geoff Severin, Poster

May 2023: "Organ agar serves as physiologically relevant alternative for in vivo colonization" is available as a preprint on Research Square.

April 2023: UROP students Mandy Chu and Chaitra Moolaveesala present their research from the Mobley lab at the UROP 2023 Spring Symposium:

"Investigating the role of sugar cleavage in uropathogenic Proteus mirabilis MR/P fimbrial adherence"

UROP Student Mandy Chu and Research Mentor Dr. Melanie Pearson

"Genetic conservation of the Proteus mirabilis urease promoter"

UROP Student Chaitra Moolaveesala and Research Mentor Madison Fitzgerald

April 2023: "Conserved metabolic regulator ArcA responds to oxygen availability, iron limitation, and cell envelope perturbations during bacteremia" is available as a preprint on bioRxiv.

March 2023: Congratulations to Chaitra Moolaveesala on being accepted into the Beckman Scholars Program!

March 2023: Congratulations to Valerie Forsyth on accepting a position at Cayman Chemical Company!

January 2023: Dr. Surbhi Gupta joins the laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome!

January 2023: Maggie Gaca joins the laboratory as a research technician. Welcome!

January 2023: Tad Eichler joins the laboratory as a research technician. Welcome!

January 2023: Congratulations to Dr. Allyson Shea on accepting a position as an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama!

December 2022: Dr. Santosh Paudel joins the laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome!

November 2022: Dr. Mobley is interviewed as part of an article for Medical News Today regarding development of a UTI vaccine.

November 2022: "Phenotypic Assessment of Clinical Escherichia coli Isolates Predicts Uropathogenic Potential" is published in mSystems.

Panel A of Figure 7 from Shea and Frick-Cheng, et al. 2022 summarizing the correlation between bladder or urine colonization in mice by 13 clinical strains of uropathogenic E. coli and a series of phenotypic assays used to characterize the strains.

November 2022: Dr. Shiuhyang Kuo joins the laboratory as a research technician. Welcome!

November 2022: Christina Kiser joins the laboratory as a research technician. Welcome!

November 2022: "Construction of an Ordered Transposon Library for Uropathogenic Proteus mirabilis HI4320" is published in Microbiology Spectrum.

Figure 1 from Pearson, et al. 2022 mapping the insertion sites of

the transposon library for Proteus mirabilis HI4320.

(Left to Right) Drs. Allyson Shea, Melanie Pearson, and Geoffrey Severin at MMPC in Madison, Wisconsin

September 2022: Members of the Mobley Lab attended the 28th Annual Midwest Microbial Pathogenesis Conference (MMPC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The following posters were presented by the lab (attendees in underline):

"ABC Importers: The Underestimated Contributors to Uropathogenesis"

by Allyson Shea, Arwen Frick-Cheng, Sara Smith, and Harry LT Mobley

"Organ Agar Reveals Physiologically Relevant Urinary Fitness Factors for Proteus mirabilis" by Melanie Pearson, Sara N. Smith, Sapna Pahil, and Harry L.T. Mobley

"Shikimate Biosynthesis Contributes to Citrobacter freundii Fitness During Bacteremia" by Geoff Severin, Aric N. Brown, Sara N. Smith, and Harry L. T. Mobley

September 2022: Congratulations to Dr. Allyson Shea on being awarded Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award from the University of Michigan!

Dr. Allyson Shea

August 2022: The laboratory welcomes Dr. Dawid Gmiter as a visiting scholar from Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland.

August 2022: Congratulations to Dr. Arwen Frick-Cheng on accepting a position as a Senior Scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Melanie Ohi at the Life Sciences Institute!

July 2022: Members of the Mobley Lab virtually attend a conference through the Urinary Tract Infection Global Alliance (UTIGA). Dr. Mobley was invited to give a talk titled, "Movin’ On Up: Bladder to Kidney to Bloodstream." Dr. Melanie Pearson presented her work as a talk selected from poster abstracts. Madison Fitzgerald, Valerie Forsyth, Dr. Pearson, Dr. Allyson Shea, and Sara Smith also presented posters throughout the conference. Congratulations to Dr. Pearson on being named a communication officer for UTIGA!

June 2022: The Mobley Lab attends ASM Microbe 2022 in Washington, D.C. The following presentations were given by members of the lab:

"ArcAB Optimizes Metabolism During Bacteremia" by Aric Brown, Poster Talk

"Transcriptional Regulation of Proteus mirabilis Urease: New Insights Into an Old Target" by Madison Fitzgerald, Poster Presentation

"Aerobactin Receptor IutA is an Effective Vaccine Antigen Against Escherichia coli and Generates a Unique Antibody Epitope Profile During Urinary Tract Infection" by Valerie Forsyth, Poster Presentation

"Iron Restriction Induces Motility in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli" by Dr. Arwen Frick-Cheng, Poster Presentation

"Contributions Of Diverse Capsule Types To Serratia marcescens Infection" by Stephanie Himpsl, Poster Presentation

"Organ Agar Reveals Physiologically Relevant Urinary Fitness Factors for Proteus mirabilis" by Sara Smith, Poster Presentation

"Mrpj Controls Proteus mirabilis Virulence Through Both Mr/p Fimbriae and the Larger Mrpj Regulon" by Dr. Melanie Pearson, Poster Presentation

"Amino Acid Uptake is Highly Conserved and Fuels Uropathogenesis Mechanisms of E. coli" by Dr. Allyson Shea, Symposium Talk

Mobley Lab, ASM Microbe 2022

Washington, D.C.

May 2022: "Ferric Citrate Uptake Is a Virulence Factor in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli" is published in mBio.

Figure 1A from Frick-Cheng et al., 2022 depicting the heme receptors, siderophores, and siderophore receptors that have been found in uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) overall and specifically in the clinical strains CFT073 and HM7.

April 2022: "The ArcAB Two-Component System: Function in Metabolism, Redox Control, and Infection" is published in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

Figure 1 from Brown et al., 2022 overviewing the activation and function of the two-component regulatory system ArcAB found in facultatively anaerobic bacteria, including many pathogens studied in the Mobley lab.

December 2024: Dr. Madison Fitzgerald received her doctoral hood at Winter Commencement at Crisler Arena. Congratulations Madison!

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