Phillip Tarr, M.D.

RESEARCH INTEREST

Our studies center on specific enteric pathogens, as well as the interaction between bacteria and the intestinal mucosa. We have maintained a surveillance network in the Pacific Northwest, whereby children under age ten who are infected with Escherichia coli O157:H7 are identified, and their progression into the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or to spontaneous resolution, are studied. This cohort provides a unique opportunity to delineate the pathophysiologic mechanisms leading to resolution or progression of this untreatable disorder. Ongoing work focus on prothrombotic derangements in the coagulation system, which lead to extraintestinal organ injury, and which occur quite early in illness. We are also studying the etiology of unexplained diarrhea in urban and rural populations in the Pacific Northwest by attempting to determine the cause of childhood enteric infections in children in whom classic microbiologic diagnoses fail to yield a pathogen. Ongoing efforts are also directed towards determining the risk factors for acquisition of foodborne infections, utilizing the same overlapping populations, also based in the state of Washington. This laboratory is also studying the evolutionary basis for acquisition of virulence loci by E. coli O157:H7, and other Shiga toxin-producing pathogens. Finally, we are examining microbial precipitants of inflammatory bowel disease in children.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS