Lawrenz Lab

About 

In the Lawrenz lab, part of the UofL School of Medicine, researchers are working to understand:

Evasion of Innate Immunity During Plague: To kill invading bacteria, innate immune cells deploy potent antimicrobial mechanisms such as the production of inflammatory lipids. Yersinia pestis, which causes the plague, can inhibit these mechanisms by injecting proteins into macrophages and neutrophils through an apparatus called a Type 3 Secretion System. We are interested in understanding how Y. pestis evades innate immunity by inhibiting the production of inflammatory lipids and altering the packaging of extracellular vesicles. 

Metal Acquisition by Bacteria During Infection: Bacteria require metals for growth. As such, our bodies restrict access to metals through mechanisms referred to as nutritional immunity. Bacterial pathogens can overcome nutritional immunity by secreting small molecules called metallophores that steal metals from their hosts. We are defining the role of metallophores in microbial virulence and working to develop therapeutics that target metal acquisition systems. 

New Drugs to Combat Antimicrobial-Resistant Infections: We have developed validated preclinical models to test novel antibiotics against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These models are key to identifying promising new antimicrobial drugs and providing proof-of-concept data that can be used to justify in-human clinical trials and support subsequent FDA approval. We maintain support for these preclinical models for researchers interested in antimicrobial development. 

Key Research Areas

• Bacterial pathogenesis and immune evasion
• Bacterial genetics
• Innate immune responses to bacterial infection
• Animal models to study infection and develop novel vaccines and therapeutics 

Team 

• Matthew B. Lawrenz, PhD, Principal Investigator
• Taylor Garrison, MS, M&I PhD Candidate, 2020
• Subarna Roy, MS, M&I PhD Student, 2022
• Belayet Limon, MS, M&I PhD Student, 2024
• Briana Harness, MD/PhD Student, 2025
• Mahendar Kadari, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
• Katelyn Whitefoot-Keliin, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
• Caleb Whitley, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
• Katelyn Sheneman, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
• Ben Hammond, MS, Lab Manager

Recent Publications

View full publication profile here. 

• Sheneman KR, Lawrenz MB. Strategies in immune subversion: How Yersinia pestis inhibits neutrophil responses. PLoS Pathog. 2026 Apr 10;22(4):e1014120. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1014120. PMID: 41961765; PMCID: PMC13068271.
• Sheneman KR, Cummins TD, Merchant ML, Hood JL, Uriarte SM, Lawrenz MB. Yersinia pestis Actively Inhibits the Production of Extracellular Vesicles by Human Neutrophils. J Extracell Vesicles. 2025 Apr;14(4):e70074. doi: 10.1002/jev2.70074. PMID: 40240908; PMCID: PMC12003101.
• Brady A, Tomaszewski M, Garrison TM, Lawrenz MB. Approaches for the Inactivation of Yersinia pestis. Appl Biosaf. 2024 Dec 16;29(4):221-231. doi: 10.1089/apb.2023.0022. PMID: 39735406; PMCID: PMC11669761.
• Brady A, Garrison TM, Ernst RK, Rasko DA, Lawrenz MB. Draft genome sequences of evolutionary distant Yersinia species representatives. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2025 Jan 16;14(1):e0099624. doi: 10.1128/mra.00996-24. Epub 2024 Dec 10. PMID: 39655931; PMCID: PMC11737087.
• Brady A, Mora Martinez LC, Hammond B, Whitefoot-Keliin KM, Haribabu B, Uriarte SM, Lawrenz MB. Distinct mechanisms of type 3 secretion system recognition control LTB4 synthesis in neutrophils and macrophages. PLoS Pathog. 2024 Oct 18;20(10):e1012651. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012651. PMID: 39423229; PMCID: PMC11524448.
• Brady A, Sheneman KR, Pulsifer AR, Price SL, Garrison TM, Maddipati KR, Bodduluri SR, Pan J, Boyd NL, Zheng JJ, Rai SN, Hellmann J, Haribabu B, Uriarte SM, Lawrenz MB. Type 3 secretion system induced leukotriene B4 synthesis by leukocytes is actively inhibited by Yersinia pestis to evade early immune recognition. PLoS Pathog. 2024 Jan 25;20(1):e1011280. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011280. PMID: 38271464; PMCID: PMC10846697.
• Price SL, Oakes RS, Gonzalez RJ, Edwards C, Brady A, DeMarco JK, von Andrian UH, Jewell CM, Lawrenz MB. Microneedle array delivery of Yersinia pestis recapitulates bubonic plague. iScience. 2023 Nov 30;27(1):108600. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108600. PMID: 38179062; PMCID: PMC10765063.
• Price SL, Thibault D, Garrison TM, Brady A, Guo H, Kehl-Fie TE, Garneau-Tsodikova S, Perry RD, van Opijnen T, Lawrenz MB. Droplet Tn-Seq identifies the primary secretion mechanism for yersiniabactin in Yersinia pestis. EMBO Rep. 2023 Oct 9;24(10):e57369. doi: 10.15252/embr.202357369. Epub 2023 Jul 28. PMID: 37501563; PMCID: PMC10561177. 

Lawrenz Lab Alumni

• Amanda Brady, PhD - Postdoctoral Associate, University of Colorado (Doran Lab)
• Sarah Price, PhD - Postdoctoral Associate, Vanderbilt (Skaar Lab)
• Amanda Pulsifer, PhD - Senior Scientific Support, STEMCELL Technologies
• Shane Reeves, MD/MPH - Resident Physician, Wayne State University
• Stephanie Lunn, MPH, MS - Bioinformatician, Washington State Department of Health
• Tiva VanCleave, PhD - High Cost Drug Analyst, Rawlings Group
• Yanwen Sun, MS - Medical Laboratory Scientist, University of Iowa
• Michael Connor, PhD – Research Associate, Institut Pasteur (Hamon Lab)