Gerard A. Cangelosi

Gerard A. Cangelosi

Professor

Email: gcang@uw.edu

Phone: 206-543-2005

Office: Suite 100, Roosevelt One Building

Expertise: Clean Water, Safe Food, Sustainable Communities, COVID-19, Infectious diseases, Microbiome

PhD

[Tabs]

About

Working in both the public and private sectors, Jerry Cangelosi's research teams have generated 10 patents and over 80 publications in relevant areas including tuberculosis and related diseases, COVID-19, oral microbiology, water-borne pathogens, and healthcare-associated infections. These activities share strong emphases on translation and global health impact. In recent years he has led or co-led infectious disease studies in the United States, Bangladesh, South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya. Among the outputs are novel, non-invasive tuberculosis screening methods that are now in expanded clinical studies worldwide. In the Spring of 2020, amidst the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, his team helped demonstrate similarly non-invasive methods for COVID-19 screening. These methods received accelerated FDA clearance and have become widely implemented in the United States and throughout the world. Non-invasive screening for TB and COVID-19 could help to significantly reduce the global burdens of both diseases.

Dr. Cangelosi is Professor in the University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and adjunct professor in the departments of Global Health and Epidemiology. He teaches environmental health courses on environmental change, microbiomes and environmental pathogens. He also serves as the DEOHS representative on the UW School of Public Health Faculty Council.

Learn more about his research on his lab page: https://deohs.washington.edu/cangelosilab

Affiliations

Adjunct Professor, Epidemiology
Adjunct Professor, Global Health

Education

PhD, University of California (Davis)
BS, Michigan State University

PhD

Professor

Dr. Cangelosi works on infectious diseases, especially in the areas of molecular diagnostics, pathogen detection, and exposure/transmission. His work in both public and private sectors has generated 10 patents, 2 product launches, 1 start-up company launch, and over 80 publications. These projects have addressed tuberculosis and related diseases, waterborne pathogens, enteric disease, and hospital acquired infections. Recent accomplishments include the development of a novel, oral swab-based tuberculosis case finding approach, new molecular viability testing methods, and new semi-synthetic affinity reagents for molecular diagnostic testing.

Research Interests

Reduced exposure to infectious diseases. Improved tuberculosis case finding and transmission control. Improved detection of pathogens in food and water. Improved understanding of infectious disease exposure and epidemiology.

Mentorship

Available to mentor new Master's and PhD students in autumn 2022. Contact an adviser for more information

DEOHS Students Mentored

Sample Adequacy Controls for Infectious Disease Diagnosis by Oral Swabbing

Meagan Deviaene | MS (Thesis), Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) | 2017 | View

Oral Swab PCR as an Alternative to Sputum-based Methods for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Rachel Wood | MS (Thesis), Environmental Health (EH) | 2014 | View

Molecular Viability Testing for Improved Diagnosis of Healthcare Associated Infections

Herakles Li | MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) | 2014 | View

Research

Interests: Reduced exposure to infectious diseases. Improved tuberculosis case finding and transmission control. Improved detection of pathogens in food and water. Improved understanding of infectious disease exposure and epidemiology.

Projects

• High-throughput screening for SARS-CoV-2. Using non-invasive sampling strategies that we initially developed for tuberculosis, we helped to demonstrate similarly non-invasive methods for COVID-19 screening. These methods received accelerated FDA clearance and have become widely implemented in the United States and throughout the world. Non-invasive screening for TB and COVID-19 could help to significantly reduce the global burdens of both diseases.

• Tuberculosis biomarkers and diagnosis. In collaboration with research and clinical partners in Washington, California, Kenya, and South Africa, we are working to identify biomarkers of active TB and to develop improved point-of-care tools for detecting TB biomarkers in patient samples.

• Molecular detection of pathogens in environmental and clinical samples. As a method for detecting microorganisms in samples, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is fast, sensitive, and specific. However, it is unable to distinguish viable pathogen cells from dead cells and free nucleic acid fragments. We have shown that PCR tests for ribosomal RNA precursors (pre-rRNA) can overcome this problem. In collaboration with a Seattle-based commercial licensee, AttoDx, Inc, we are developing pre-rRNA tests for pathogen detection in environmental as well as clinical samples.

• Understanding human exposure to tuberculosis and related diseases. Transmission and exposure are among the most poorly understood aspects of bacterial disease. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a globally important microbial pathogen, and related environmental mycobacteria are useful models for understanding how infectious diseases emerge and spread. Molecular and epidemiological methods are being used to characterize the host, pathogen, and environmental factors involved in the acquisition of mycobacterial infections.

Publications

Recent publications

See publications list

Projects

• Improved affinity reagents (molecular probes) for infectious disease diagnosis. High-throughput methods are being developed to generate novel antibody-like "probes" for pathogen molecules in patient and environmental samples. In an NIH-funded project entitled "Accelerated Molecular Probe Pipeline," these methods are being used to identify new biomarkers of intestinal amoeba infections. The project is an international collaboration with partners in Washington, Virginia, Australia, and Bangladesh.