Egland, Paul

• Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Iowa 

• Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Iowa 

• B.A., Biology, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

Dr. Egland's general research interest is the interactions of microbes growing in biofilm communities or in association with a host.  These communities have included bacterial biofilms, human dental plaque bacteria and bacterial communities in Nicrophorus burying beetles.  Egland's current research involves studying the effects of animal tissue products, namely placenta-derived factors, on bacterial viability and biofilm formation. This project, done in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Gubbels at Augustana, involves determining maternal and fetal contribution to antibacterial factors that are produced by the placenta. We have detected antimicrobial activity in both maternal and fetal portions of human, cow, sheep, and pig placenta. Our current work involves measuring the ability of placenta derived proteins to prevent steps in the growth of biofilms formed by various pathogens that are harmful to pregnancy and neonates. Preliminary data suggests that biofilm inhibition occurs by different mechanisms in the various pathogens. In the future, we are in the process of identifying the active molecule in extracts from these tissues.