Kalai Mathee Explained

Kalai Mathee
Birth Date:30 August 1959
Nationality:American Malaysian
Education:MPH, Health Policy and Management, Florida International University (2018)

PhD, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Tennessee, Memphis (1992)

MSc, Microbial Genetics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1986)

BSc, Genetics, University of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1984)

Thesis Title:Function and regulation of the bacteriophage Mu middle operon
Thesis Url:https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/
Thesis Year:1992
Spouse:Giri Narasimhan
Parents:Ka. Kaliaperumal
Rugmani Loganayaki

Kalai Mathee is a professor at Florida International University, joint editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Microbiology, and an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. She is known for her research on bacterial infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Early life and education

Kalai Mathee was born into a working-class family in Malaysia to Kuyilar Kaliaperumal and Loganayaki. She is of Tamil heritage and got her early education in a vernacular school SJKT Kerajaan in Ipoh.[1] She has a Bachelor of Science in Genetics from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, graduating in 1984, and completed her master's in molecular genetics focusing on Neisseria gonorrhoeae in 1986 under the tutelage of Chong-Lek Koh.[2] Mathee did her Ph.D. (1992) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center at Memphis under Martha Howe's guidance specializing in transcription.[3] Mathee did two post-doctorate fellowships, one at Tufts University focusing on Helicobacter pylori pathogenesis in the year 1993; the other at University of Tennessee Health Science Center working on Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis from 1993-1999. In 2018, she received her master's degree in Public Health in Health Policy and Management from Florida International University.

Career

In 1999, Mathee moved to Florida International University where she was promoted to professor in 2013. She did a sabbatical at Harvard Medical School in Stephen Lory’s lab from 2006-2007. In 2007 she was the founding chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Florida International University.

In 2017, Mathee and Norman Fry were named co-editors-in-cChief of the Journal of Medical Microbiology.[4] [5]

Research

Since 1993, the major focus of Mathee’s research has been the pathobiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic infections with specific emphasis on β-lactam resistance, alginate overproduction, comparative genomics, alternative therapies, and cystic fibrosis lung ecology. Her early research identified the function and regulatory mechanisms of the bacteriophage Mu.[6] [7] Her postdoctoral research focused on alginate gene regulation with a focus on the alginate-specific sigma factor, AlgT/U, and she was the first to show MucA is an inner membrane protein.[8] Mathee also showed that polymorphonuclear leukocytes and oxygen radicals can contribute to mucoid conversion by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.[9] Mathee has examined the role of quorum sensing molecules in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections,[10] [11] [12] and demonstrated that alginate is not required for biofilm formation.[13] Her work has used comparative genomics[14] and transcriptomics[15] to define variability across strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A portion of Mathee's research is on β-lactam resistance,[16] particularly the amp pathway where she showed the presence of a β-lactamase PoxB, two permeases, and coregulation of antibiotic resistance and other virulence factors mediated by AmpR.[17] [18] Current ongoing research focuses on exploring various microbiomes, including lung, irritable bowel syndrome, vaginal, and gut.[19]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

In 2011, she was awarded the President’s Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award from Florida International University.[20] Mathee was named a distinguished fellow of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre in 2013.[21] In 2014, she was one of the inaugural recipients of the New England Biolabs Passion in Science Award.[22] In 2020, Mathee was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.[23] Mathee is the first Florida International University faculty member to receive this honor, and the first Malaysian woman to receive this honor.[24] In 2022 she was awarded the Microbiology Society's Microbiology Outreach Prize.[25]

Personal life

In 1993, she married a computer science professor, Giri Narasimhan, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-05-05. Prof Dr Kalai Mathee; A Trailblazing Malaysian Scientist Exceptional Discoveries Makes Waves in The US. 2021-12-12. Varnam MY. en-US.
  2. Web site: ORCID page for Kalai Mathee. 2021-12-12. orcid.org.
  3. Function and regulation of the bacteriophage Mu middle operon. 1992. English. Kalai. Mathee. 28138881.
  4. Kalai. Mathee. K.Fry. Norman. 1 July 2017. Welcome from Norman Fry and Kalai Mathee, new co-Editors-in-Chief for the Journal of Medical Microbiology. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 66. 7. 846. 10.1099/jmm.0.000520. 28759351.
  5. Kalai. Mathee. Journal of Medical Microbiology. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 0022-2615. 1473-5644.
  6. Mathee. K. Howe. M M. 1990-12-01. Identification of a positive regulator of the Mu middle operon. Journal of Bacteriology. 172. 12. 6641–6650. 10.1128/jb.172.12.6641-6650.1990. 210775. 2147678.
  7. Mathee. K. Howe. M M. 1993-09-01. Bacteriophage Mu Mor protein requires sigma 70 to activate the Mu middle promoter. Journal of Bacteriology. 175. 17. 5314–5323. 10.1128/jb.175.17.5314-5323.1993. 206584. 8366019.
  8. Mathee. K. McPherson. C J. Ohman. D E. 1997-06-01. Posttranslational control of the algT (algU)-encoded sigma22 for expression of the alginate regulon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and localization of its antagonist proteins MucA and MucB (AlgN). Journal of Bacteriology. 179. 11. 3711–3720. 10.1128/jb.179.11.3711-3720.1997. 179169. 9171421.
  9. Mathee. Kalai. Ciofu. Oana. Sternberg. Claus. Lindum. Peter W.. Campbell. Joan I. A.. Jensen. Per. Johnsen. Anders H.. Givskov. Michael. Ohman. Dennis E.. Søren. Molin. Høiby. Niels. 1999-06-01. Mucoid conversion of Pseudomonas aeruginos by hydrogen peroxide: a mechanism for virulence activation in the cystic fibrosis lung. Microbiology. en. 145. 6. 1349–1357. 10.1099/13500872-145-6-1349. 10411261. 1350-0872. free.
  10. Wu. Hong. Song. Zhijun. Hentzer. Morten. Andersen. Jens Bo. Heydorn. Arne. Mathee. Kalai. Moser. Claus. Eberl. Leo. Molin. Søren. Høiby. Niels. Givskov. Michael YR 2000. Detection of N-acylhomoserine lactones in lung tissues of mice infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbiology. 2000. 146. 10. 2481–2493. 10.1099/00221287-146-10-2481. 11021924. 1465-2080. free.
  11. Wu. Hong. Song. Zhijun. Givskov. Michael. Doring. Gerd. Worlitzsch. Dieter. Mathee. Kalai. Rygaard. Jørgen. Høiby. Niels YR 2001. Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutations in lasI and rhlI quorum sensing systems result in milder chronic lung infection. Microbiology. 2001. 147. 5. 1105–1113. 10.1099/00221287-147-5-1105. 11320114. 1465-2080. free.
  12. Adonizio. Allison. Kong. Kok-Fai. Mathee. Kalai. 2008. Inhibition of Quorum Sensing-Controlled Virulence Factor Production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by South Florida Plant Extracts. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. en. 52. 1. 198–203. 10.1128/AAC.00612-07. 0066-4804. 2223872. 17938186.
  13. Stapper. Andres Plata. Narasimhan. Giri. Ohman. Dennis E.. Barakat. Johnny. Hentzer. Morten. Molin. Søren. Kharazmi. Arsalan. Høiby. Niels. Mathee. KalaiYR 2004. Alginate production affects Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development and architecture, but is not essential for biofilm formation. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2004. 53. 7. 679–690. 10.1099/jmm.0.45539-0. 15184541. 1473-5644. free.
  14. Mathee. Kalai. Narasimhan. Giri. Valdes. Camilo. Qiu. Xiaoyun. Matewish. Jody M.. Koehrsen. Michael. Rokas. Antonis. Yandava. Chandri N.. Engels. Reinhard. Zeng. Erliang. Olavarietta. Raquel. 2008-02-26. Dynamics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa genome evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 105. 8. 3100–3105. 10.1073/pnas.0711982105. 0027-8424. 2268591. 18287045. 2008PNAS..105.3100M. free.
  15. Balasubramanian. Deepak. Mathee. Kalai. 2009. Comparative transcriptome analyses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Human Genomics. en. 3. 4. 349–361. 10.1186/1479-7364-3-4-361. 1479-7364. 2897818. 19706365 . free .
  16. Kong. Kok-Fai. Schneper. Lisa. Mathee. Kalai. 2010. Beta-lactam antibiotics: from antibiosis to resistance and bacteriology. APMIS. en. 118. 1. 1–36. 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2009.02563.x. 1600-0463. 2894812. 20041868.
  17. Kong. Kok-Fai. Jayawardena. Suriya Ravi. Indulkar. Shalaka Dayaram. del Puerto. Aimee. Koh. Chong-Lek. Høiby. Niels. Mathee. Kalai. 2005-11-01. Pseudomonas aeruginosa AmpR Is a Global Transcriptional Factor That Regulates Expression of AmpC and PoxB β-Lactamases, Proteases, Quorum Sensing, and Other Virulence Factors. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 49. 11. 4567–4575. 10.1128/AAC.49.11.4567-4575.2005. 1280116. 16251297.
  18. Balasubramanian. Deepak. Schneper. Lisa. Merighi. Massimo. Smith. Roger. Narasimhan. Giri. Lory. Stephen. Mathee. Kalai. 2012-03-29. The Regulatory Repertoire of Pseudomonas aeruginosa AmpC β-Lactamase Regulator AmpR Includes Virulence Genes. PLOS ONE. en. 7. 3. e34067. 10.1371/journal.pone.0034067. 1932-6203. 3315558. 22479525. 2012PLoSO...734067B. free.
  19. Mathee. Kalai. Cickovski. Trevor. Deoraj. Alok. Stollstorff. Melanie. Narasimhan. GiriYR 2020. The gut microbiome and neuropsychiatric disorders: implications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2020. 69. 1. 14–24. 10.1099/jmm.0.001112. 1473-5644. 7440676. 31821133.
  20. Web site: President's Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award. Florida International University.
  21. Web site: Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) Distinguished Fellows. 2021-12-12. en-US.
  22. News: 13 November 2014. New England Biolabs, Inc. Release: 15 Inspiring Scientists Receive Passion In Science Awards™.
  23. Web site: February 19, 2020. 73 Fellows Elected into the American Academy of Microbiology. 2021-12-12. ASM.org. en.
  24. Web site: March 17, 2020. Mathee elected to American Academy of Microbiology. December 12, 2021. CASE News.
  25. Web site: Prize winners 2023 . Microbiology Society . 26 November 2022.

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