Faculty
Joseph P. Zackular, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
1211A Abramson Research Center
3615 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
3615 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 2674265016
Email:
zackular@upenn.edu
zackular@upenn.edu
Publications
Education:
B.S. (Microbiology)
University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 2008.
M.S. (Microbiology)
University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 2009.
Ph.D. (Microbiology & Immunology)
University of Michigan, 2014.
B.S. (Microbiology)
University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 2008.
M.S. (Microbiology)
University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 2009.
Ph.D. (Microbiology & Immunology)
University of Michigan, 2014.
Links
Search PubMed for articles
Announcing the 2025 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease
The Center for Microbial Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Zackular Lab Website
Permanent linkSearch PubMed for articles
Announcing the 2025 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease
The Center for Microbial Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Zackular Lab Website
Description of Research Expertise
The Zackular laboratory is focused on understanding how interactions between the host, gut microbiota, and pathogens impact human health and disease. The labs efforts primarily center on the nosocomial pathogen, Clostridioides difficile, which is an urgent global public health threat. The Zackular lab is interested in understanding how the gut microbiota shapes C. difficile fitness and virulence, and the team is studying how this complex microbial community alters host responses to infection. Recent work from the Zackular lab has focused on elucidating cooperative interactions between C. difficile and other pathogens, such as the enterococci. Leveraging knowledge learned from studying polymicrobial interactions and microbial ecology during infection, the Zackular lab is also developing novel vaccine strategies for the prevention of C. difficile infection and using microbiome-based therapies for the treatment of disease.Dr. Zackular is co-director of the Center for Microbial Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which focuses on i.) bringing microbiome-based medicine to pediatric patients and ii) using precision pathogen surveillance for infection prevention and control and to provide children with improved and personalized treatments for infections.
Selected Publications
Hewlett K.K#, PeBenit A.#, Hecht A.L.#, Tiffany C, Tanes C., Glover R.C., Fawad J.A., Friedman E.S., Reynolds J.C., Bittinger K., Lewis J.D., Wu G.D., Ahuja N.K.†, Zackular J.P.† : Dietary fiber modulates the window of susceptibility to Clostridioides difficile infection. Gastroenterology S0016-5085(25): 00761-9, May 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2025.04.027 #Denotes co-first authorship; † Denotes co-corresponding authorshipSoto Ocaña J, Friedman ES, Keenan O, Bayard NU, Ford E, Tanes C, Munneke MJ, Beavers WN, Skaar EP, Bittinger K, Zemel BS, Wu GD, Zackular JP.: Metal availability shapes early life microbial ecology and community succession. mBio 15(11): e0153424, Nov 2024.
Alameh M., Semon, A., Bayard N.U., Pan Y., Knox J., Dwivedi G., Glover R.C., Rangel P.C., Tanes C., Bittinger K., She Q., Maslanka J.R., Planet P.J., Moustafa A.M., Davis B., Chevrier A., Beattie M., Ni H., Blizard G., Furth E.E., Mach R H., Lavertu M., Sellmyer M., Tam Y., Abt M.C., Weissman D., Zackular J.P. : A multivalent mRNA-LNP vaccine protects against Clostridioides difficile infection. Science 386(6717): 69-75, Oct 2024 Notes: doi: 10.1126/science.adn4955.
Smith A.B., Specker J.T., Hewlett K.K., Scoggins T.R., Knight M., Lustig A.M., Lid Y., Evans K.M., Guob Y., She Q., Christopher M.W., Garrett T.J., Moustafa A.M., Van Tyne D., Prentice B.M., Zackular J.P.: Liberation of host heme by Clostridioides difficile-mediated damage enhances Enterococcus faecalis fitness during infection. mBio 15(1): e0165623, Jan 2024.
Soto Ocaña J, Bayard NU, Hart JL, Thomas AK, Furth EE, Lacy DB, Aronoff DM, Zackular JP.: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs sensitize epithelial cells to Clostridioides difficile toxin-mediated mitochondrial damage. Sci Adv 9(29): eadh5552, Jul 2023.
Smith A.B., Jenior M.L., Keenan O., Hart J.L., Specker J, Abbas A, Rangel P.C., Di C., Green J., Bustin K. A., Gaddy J.A., Nicholson M.R., Laut C., Kelly B.J., Matthews M.L, Evans D.L., Van Tyne D., Furth E.E., Papin J.A., Bushman F.D., Erlichman J., Baldassano R.N., Silverman M.A., Dunny G.M., Prentice B.M., Skaar E.P., and Zackular J.P. : Enterococci enhance Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis. Nature 611(7937): 780-786, Nov 2022.
Bushman FD, Conrad M, Ren Y, Zhao C, Gu C, Petucci C, Kim MS, Abbas A, Downes KJ, Devas N, Mattei LM, Breton J, Kelsen J, Marakos S, Galgano A, Kachelries K, Erlichman J, Hart JL, Moraskie M, Kim D, Zhang H, Hofstaedter CE, Wu GD, Lewis JD, Zackular JP, Li H, Bittinger K, Baldassano R.: Multi-omic Analysis of the Interaction between Clostridioides difficile Infection and Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Cell Host & Microbe 28(3): 422-433, Sep 2020.
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