Madison McGuire

Madison McGuire

Chemistry

Madison McGuire

Advisor

Helen Blackwell

Current research

Abiotic Small Molecule Probe Development to Modulate Bacterial Communication

The rise of antibiotic resistance highlights the need for alternative strategies to combat infection. One promising approach is targeting bacteria’s ability to communicate with one another via chemical signals in a process known as “quorum sensing”. Quorum sensing allows bacteria to coordinate group-beneficial behaviors—many of which drive infection in humans, animals, and plants. My research focuses on developing novel chemical probes to inhibit quorum sensing in gram-negative bacteria and investigating their mechanisms of action.