Paul Keim

Last updated
Paul Keim
Born
Kansas
EducationNorthern Arizona University
University of Kansas
Known forWork on microbiological forensics in the context of bioterrorism and public health hazards.
Scientific career
Fieldspathogen genomics, biodefense
Institutions Northern Arizona University

Paul Keim is an American distinguished professor, geneticist and microbiologist, known for his work in pathogen genomics and biodefense. He is the founding executive director of the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute [1] (PMI) and holds the titles of E. Raymond and Ruth Reed Cowden Chair of Microbiology and Regents Professor of Biology at Northern Arizona University. [2] He has made major contributions to the field of microbiological forensics, especially in the context of bioterrorism and public health hazards. [3] [4]

Contents

His publication includes over 500 scientific and research policy papers, which have been cited over 60,000 times with an h-index of 116. [5] [6]

Early life and education

Keim grew up in central Kansas and initially attended McPherson College but earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry from Northern Arizona University and his Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Kansas. His postdoctoral training was the University of Utah and Iowa State University in genetics and microbiology. He did sabbatical stints at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Universidad de Costa Rica, and as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford.

Career

Keim has been a faculty member at Northern Arizona University for over 35 years, where he holds the titles of E. Raymond and Ruth Reed Cowden Chair of Microbiology and Regents Professor of Biology. [7] He has also founded the Pathogen Genomics Division (2003) at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and holds the rank of Distinguish Professor. [8]

In 2002, Keim established the Microbial Genetics and Genomics Center at NAU, which transformed into the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (2001). [9] His work in microbial forensic has allowed for analysis of dangerous pathogens, particularly those related to bioterrorism, such as Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plagplaguend Francisella tularensis (tularemia). [10] [11]

Contributions

Keim is most noted for his involvement in the FBI investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, where his lab at NAU identified the anthrax strain used in the attacks. [12] His team developed assays that were more accurate in identifying strains than others available at the time, assisting both in the criminal investigation and the subsequent clean-up efforts. [13] Documentation of this work includes Keim’s appearance in a 2022 Netflix documentary Anthrax Attacks. [14]

His research also investigated the 1993 anthrax attack in Japan to the Aum Shinrikyo cult, demonstrating the forensic applications of genomic technology in biodefense. [15] [16]

Pathogen genomics program

Keim leads the Pathogen Genomics Program, a collaboration between TGen and NAU. [17] The program focuses on three core areas:

  1. Biodefense – Enhancing forensic analysis for biological weapons.
  2. Human-Pathogen Interactions – Understanding the relationship between humans and microbial pathogens to develop new diagnostics and treatments.
  3. Disease Movement – Studying how pathogens spread to control and prevent future outbreaks.

His work has not only addressed bioterrorism but has also extended to public health, helping to develop molecular identification tools for pathogens like E. coli , Salmonella , Listeria , and tuberculosis. [18]

Research in epidemiology and disease outbreaks

Keim's has been involved in tracking various disease outbreaks, including the identification of the source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and determining the spread of Valley fever in organ transplant cases. His efforts have contributed to a better understanding of how pathogens evolve and spread, with the goal of mitigating future public health crises. [19]

Selected publications

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological warfare</span> Use of strategically designed biological weapons

Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities. Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioterrorism</span> Terrorism involving biological agents

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents include bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or their toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to anti-agricultural attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.

<i>Bacillus</i> Genus of bacteria

Bacillus is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum Bacillota, with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural Bacilli is the name of the class of bacteria to which this genus belongs. Bacillus species can be either obligate aerobes which are dependent on oxygen, or facultative anaerobes which can survive in the absence of oxygen. Cultured Bacillus species test positive for the enzyme catalase if oxygen has been used or is present.

<i>Yersinia pestis</i> Species of bacteria, cause of plague

Yersinia pestis is a gram-negative, non-motile, coccobacillus bacterium without spores that is related to both Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, the pathogen from which Y. pestis evolved and responsible for the Far East scarlet-like fever. It is a facultative anaerobic organism that can infect humans via the Oriental rat flea. It causes the disease plague, which caused the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic in recorded history. Plague takes three main forms: pneumonic, septicemic, and bubonic. Yersinia pestis is a parasite of its host, the rat flea, which is also a parasite of rats, hence Y. pestis is a hyperparasite.

<i>Bacillus cereus</i> Species of bacterium

Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in soil, food, and marine sponges. The specific name, cereus, meaning "waxy" in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown on blood agar. Some strains are harmful to humans and cause foodborne illness due to their spore-forming nature, while other strains can be beneficial as probiotics for animals, and even exhibit mutualism with certain plants. B. cereus bacteria may be aerobes or facultative anaerobes, and like other members of the genus Bacillus, can produce protective endospores. They have a wide range of virulence factors, including phospholipase C, cereulide, sphingomyelinase, metalloproteases, and cytotoxin K, many of which are regulated via quorum sensing. B. cereus strains exhibit flagellar motility.

<i>Yersinia</i> Genus of bacteria

Yersinia is a genus of bacteria in the family Yersiniaceae. Yersinia species are Gram-negative, coccobacilli bacteria, a few micrometers long and fractions of a micrometer in diameter, and are facultative anaerobes. Some members of Yersinia are pathogenic in humans; in particular, Y. pestis is the causative agent of the plague. Rodents are the natural reservoirs of Yersinia; less frequently, other mammals serve as the host. Infection may occur either through blood or in an alimentary fashion, occasionally via consumption of food products contaminated with infected urine or feces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthrax</span> Infection caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria

Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The skin form presents with a small blister with surrounding swelling that often turns into a painless ulcer with a black center. The inhalation form presents with fever, chest pain, and shortness of breath. The intestinal form presents with diarrhea, abdominal pains, nausea, and vomiting.

The Ames strain is one of 89 known strains of the anthrax bacterium. It was isolated from a diseased 14-month-old Beefmaster heifer that died in Sarita, Texas in 1981. The strain was isolated at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and a sample was sent to the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Researchers at USAMRIID mistakenly believed the strain came from Ames, Iowa because the return address on the package was the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames and mislabeled the specimen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forensic biology</span> Forensic application of the study of biology

Forensic biology is the application of biological principles and techniques in the investigation of criminal and civil cases. Forensic biology is primarily concerned with analyzing biological and serological evidence in order to obtain a DNA profile, which aids law enforcement in the identification of potential suspects or unidentified remains. This field encompasses various sub-branches, including forensic anthropology, forensic entomology, forensic odontology, forensic pathology, and forensic toxicology.

Virulence factors are cellular structures, molecules and regulatory systems that enable microbial pathogens to achieve the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire M. Fraser</span> American genome scientist and microbiologist

Claire M. Fraser is an American genome scientist and microbiologist who has worked in microbial genomics and genome medicine. Her research has contributed to the understanding of the diversity and evolution of microbial life. Fraser is the director of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, where she holds the Dean's Endowed Professorship in the School of Medicine. She has joint faculty appointments at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology. In 2019, she began serving a one-year term as President-Elect for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which will be followed by a one-year term as AAAS president starting in February 2020 and a one-year term as chair of the Board of Directors in February 2021.

<i>Bacillus anthracis</i> Species of bacterium

Bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent (obligate) pathogen within the genus Bacillus. Its infection is a type of zoonosis, as it is transmitted from animals to humans. It was discovered by a German physician Robert Koch in 1876, and became the first bacterium to be experimentally shown as a pathogen. The discovery was also the first scientific evidence for the germ theory of diseases.

Theories of the Black Death are a variety of explanations that have been advanced to explain the nature and transmission of the Black Death (1347–51). A number of epidemiologists from the 1980s to the 2000s challenged the traditional view that the Black Death was caused by plague based on the type and spread of the disease. The confirmation in 2010 and 2011 that Yersinia pestis DNA was associated with a large number of plague sites has led researchers to conclude that "Finally, plague is plague."

Pathogenomics is a field which uses high-throughput screening technology and bioinformatics to study encoded microbe resistance, as well as virulence factors (VFs), which enable a microorganism to infect a host and possibly cause disease. This includes studying genomes of pathogens which cannot be cultured outside of a host. In the past, researchers and medical professionals found it difficult to study and understand pathogenic traits of infectious organisms. With newer technology, pathogen genomes can be identified and sequenced in a much shorter time and at a lower cost, thus improving the ability to diagnose, treat, and even predict and prevent pathogenic infections and disease. It has also allowed researchers to better understand genome evolution events - gene loss, gain, duplication, rearrangement - and how those events impact pathogen resistance and ability to cause disease. This influx of information has created a need for bioinformatics tools and databases to analyze and make the vast amounts of data accessible to researchers, and it has raised ethical questions about the wisdom of reconstructing previously extinct and deadly pathogens in order to better understand virulence.

Bacillus atrophaeus is a species of black-pigmented bacteria. Its type strain is NRRL NRS-213. B. atrophaeus strains have been used extensively in biomedicine as indicator strains for heat- and chemical-based decontamination regimens. Most of the strains in use are derivatives of a lineage of B. atrophaeus that originated at Camp Detrick in the 1950s, where many modern biocontainment procedures were developed.

Elusys Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company founded in Pine Brook, New Jersey in 1998. The company specializes in the development of antibodies for the treatment infectious diseases. The antibodies are developed from protein complexes called heteropolymers which can bind to specific pathogens on one side and red blood cells on the other side.

Anthrax weaponization is the development and deployment of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis or, more commonly, its spore, as a biological weapon. As a biological weapon, anthrax has been used in biowarfare and bioterrorism since 1914. However, in 1975 the Biological Weapons Convention prohibited the "development, production and stockpiling" of biological weapons. It has since been used in bioterrorism.

The State Research Center for Applied Microbiology is a research laboratory in Obolensk, Moscow Oblast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia L. Miller</span> American microbiologist

Virginia L. Miller is a microbiologist known for her work on studying the factors leading to disease caused by bacteria. Miller is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2003) and a former Pew Charitable Trust Biomedical Scholar (1989).

Theresa Marie Koehler is an American microbiologist who is the Herbert L. and Margaret W. DuPont Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Sciences and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at McGovern Medical School. She is known for her extensive research on anthrax and was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2021. As of July 1, 2024, Koehler is the President of the American Society for Microbiology for the 2024-2025 year.

References

  1. ↑ "Professor Paul Keim talks about biolabs at Northern Arizona University". The Arizona Republic .
  2. ↑ Giblin, Paul. "Deadly diseases lurk in little-known Arizona university biolabs". The Arizona Republic .
  3. ↑ "Paul Keim". Translational Genomics Research Institute .
  4. ↑ "Paul Keim". Northern Arizona University .
  5. ↑ "Paul Keim, PhD". Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary .
  6. ↑ "Acclaimed pathogen expert Paul Keim maintains commitment to NAU, Arizona". Flinn Foundation. 14 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Paul Keim". Arizona Board of Regents .
  8. ↑ "NAU and TGen teams lead in New Research on MRSA | AZBio". AZBio. 25 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "2012 Bioscience Researcher of the Year: Paul Keim, Ph.D. | AZBio". AZBio. 1 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Dr. Paul Keim, Northern Arizona University – DNA and Anthrax Outbreaks". WAMC . 5 October 2012.
  11. ↑ Foster, Jeffrey; Pearson, Talima. "Genomic microbiology as applied to animal forensics". The Microbiologist.
  12. ↑ "Paul Keim: "We Were Surprised It Was the Ames Strain"". PBS .
  13. ↑ Bhattacharjee, Yudhijit (13 March 2009). "Paul Keim on His Life With the FBI During the Anthrax Investigation". Science (journal) . pp. 1416–1416. doi:10.1126/science.323.5920.1416.
  14. ↑ "NAU professor featured in Netflix documentary on anthrax attacks". KNAU . 24 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Anthrax's Dogged Detective". Los Angeles Times .
  16. ↑ "On Science History Podcast, NAU professors break down biological detective work needed to break open 2001 anthrax attacks – The NAU Review". Northern Arizona University .
  17. ↑ Giblin, Paul. "Deadly diseases lurk in little-known Arizona university biolabs". The Arizona Republic .
  18. ↑ McKinnon, Shaun. "The plague is all over Arizona. But don't worry. Really". The Arizona Republic .
  19. ↑ "In Haiti, Global Failures on a Cholera Epidemic". The New York Times .
  20. ↑ "2012 AZBio Researcher". sciencex.com.
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