Kim Lewis

About

The focus of my research is on antimicrobial drug tolerance and drug discovery. Microorganisms produce persister cells, which are dormant variants that are highly tolerant to killing by all known antibiotics. Persisters are largely responsible for relapsing chronic infections caused by biofilms. Using transcriptome analysis, cell sorting and whole genome sequencing we are identifying genes responsible for persister formation. Both drug tolerance and conventional drug resistance require development of new antibiotics, and our discovery efforts include screening compounds from previously “uncultured” species of microorganisms, and high-throughput screening for compounds with novel mode of action.

Selected Publications

• K. Lewis, The Science of Antibiotic Discovery, Cell, 181, 2020, 29-45
• Y. Imai, K.J. Meyer, A. Iinishi, Q. Favre-Godal, R. Green, S. Manuse, A. O’Rourke, K. Lewis, et al., A New Antibiotic Selectively Kills Gram-Negative Pathogens, Nature, 576, 2019, 459-464
• B.P. Conlon, S.E. Rowe, A. Brown Gandt, A.S. Nuxoll, N.P. Donegan, E.A. Zalis, G. Clair, J.N. Adkins, A.L. Cheung, K. Lewis, ATP Depletion is Associated with Antibiotic Tolerance in Staphylococcus Aureus, Nature Microbiology, 1, 2016, 1-7
• L.L. Ling, T. Schneider, A.J. Peoples, A.L. Spoering, I. Engels, B.P. Conlon, A. Mueller, T.F. Schäberle, D.E. Hughes, S. Epstein, M. Jones, L. Lazarides, V.A. Steadman, D.R. Cohen, C.R. Felix, K.A. Fetterman, W.P. Millett, A.G. Nitti, A.M. Zullo, C. Chen, K. Lewis, A New Antibiotic Kills Pathogens Without Detectable Resistance, Nature, 517, 2015, 455-459
• M.A. Schumacher, P. Balani, J. Min, N.B. Chinnam, S. Hansen, M. Vulic, K. Lewis, R.G. Brennan HipAB–Promoter Structures Reveal the Basis of Heritable Multidrug Tolerance, Nature, 524, 2015, 59-64
• B.P. Conlon, E.S. Nakayasu, L.E. Fleck, M.D. LaFleur, V.M. Isabella, K. Coleman, S.N. Leonard, R.D. Smith, J.N. Adkins, K. Lewis, Activated ClpP Kills Persisters and Eradicates a Chronic Biofilm Infection, Nature, 503, 2013, 365-370