Md Zahidul Alam, MBBS, PhD

Published Aug 02, 2023 by
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Assistant Professor

Department of Pathology
Brody School of Medicine
Office: Brody Building 7S 09
Lab: Brody Building 7S 11
Mail Stop 642
600 Moye Boulevard
Greenville, NC 27834
Office: (252)744-3546
Fax: (252)744-1889
alamm23@ecu.edu

Education and Research Training
  • Doctorate: University of Texas at Arlington
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS): Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh
  • Postdoc: Perelman School of Medicine: Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine: Haldar lab
  • Postdoc: Perelman School of Medicine: Department of Microbiology: Abt Lab
Research Interests

Our laboratory focuses on utilizing a mouse model of C. difficile infection to investigate the role of host factors in the pathogenesis of acute C. difficile infection. Specifically, we are interested in understanding the role of cytokines, such as interferon-gamma, in providing protection against infection. Through our research, we aim to uncover novel insights into host-pathogen interactions and potential therapeutic targets for combating C. difficile infection.

Selected Publication

Markantonis JE, Fallon JT, Madan R, Alam MZ. Clostridioides difficile Infection: Diagnosis and Treatment Challenges. Pathogens. 2024 Jan 27;13(2). doi: 10.3390/pathogens13020118. Review. PubMed PMID: 38392856; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10891949.

Yin C, Alam MZ, Fallon JT, Huang W. Advances in Development of Novel Therapeutic Strategies against Multi-Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antibiotics (Basel). 2024 Jan 25;13(2). doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13020119. Review. PubMed PMID: 38391505; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10885988.

Alam MZ, Markantonis JE, Fallon JT. Host Immune Responses to Clostridioides difficile Infection and Potential Novel Therapeutic Approaches. Trop Med Infect Dis. 2023 Nov 23;8(12). doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed8120506. Review. PubMed PMID: 38133438; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10747268.

Alam MZ, Maslanka JR, Abt MC. Immunological consequences of microbiome-based therapeutics. Front Immunol. 2022;13:1046472. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1046472. eCollection 2022. Review. PubMed PMID: 36713364; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9878555.

Littmann ER, Lee JJ, Denny JE, Alam MZ, Maslanka JR, Zarin I, Matsuda R, Carter RA, Susac B, Saffern MS, Fett B, Mattei LM, Bittinger K, Abt MC. Host immunity modulates the efficacy of microbiota transplantation for treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection. Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 2;12(1):755. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20793-x. PubMed PMID: 33531483; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7854624.

Dang MT, Gonzalez MV, Gaonkar KS, Rathi KS, Young P, Arif S, Zhai L, Alam MZ, Devalaraja S, To TKJ, Folkert IW, Raman P, Rokita JL, Martinez D, Taroni JN, Shapiro JA, Greene CS, Savonen C, Mafra F, Hakonarson H, Curran T, Haldar M. Macrophages in SHH subgroup medulloblastoma display dynamic heterogeneity that varies with treatment modality. Cell Rep. 2021 Mar 30;34(13):108917. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108917. PubMed PMID: 33789113; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10450591.

Alam MZ, Devalaraja S, Li M, To TKJ, Folkert IW, Mitchell-Velasquez E, Dang MT, Young P, Wilbur CJ, Silverman MA, Li X, Chen YH, Hernandez PT, Bhattacharyya A, Bhattacharya M, Levine MH, Haldar M. Counter Regulation of Spic by NF-κB and STAT Signaling Controls Inflammation and Iron Metabolism in Macrophages. Cell Rep. 2020 Jun 30;31(13):107825. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107825. PubMed PMID: 32610126; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8944937.

Devalaraja S, To TKJ, Folkert IW, Natesan R, Alam MZ, Li M, Tada Y, Budagyan K, Dang MT, Zhai L, Lobel GP, Ciotti GE, Eisinger-Mathason TSK, Asangani IA, Weber K, Simon MC, Haldar M. Tumor-Derived Retinoic Acid Regulates Intratumoral Monocyte Differentiation to Promote Immune Suppression. Cell. 2020 Mar 19;180(6):1098-1114.e16. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.042. Epub 2020 Mar 12. PubMed PMID: 32169218; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7194250.

Pek RH, Yuan X, Rietzschel N, Zhang J, Jackson L, Nishibori E, Ribeiro A, Simmons W, Jagadeesh J, Sugimoto H, Alam MZ, Garrett L, Haldar M, Ralle M, Phillips JD, Bodine DM, Hamza I. Hemozoin produced by mammals confers heme tolerance. Elife. 2019 Oct 1;8. doi: 10.7554/eLife.49503. PubMed PMID: 31571584; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6773446.

Alam MZ, Devalaraja S, Haldar M. The Heme Connection: Linking Erythrocytes and Macrophage Biology. Front Immunol. 2017;8:33. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00033. eCollection 2017. Review. PubMed PMID: 28167947; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5256077.

Cherian PT, Wu X, Yang L, Scarborough JS, Singh AP, Alam MZ, Lee RE, Hurdle JG. Gastrointestinal localization of metronidazole by a lactobacilli-inspired tetramic acid motif improves treatment outcomes in the hamster model of Clostridium difficile infection. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2015 Nov;70(11):3061-9. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkv231. Epub 2015 Aug 18. PubMed PMID: 26286574; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4677261.

Alam MZ, Wu X, Mascio C, Chesnel L, Hurdle JG. Mode of action and bactericidal properties of surotomycin against growing and nongrowing Clostridium difficile. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 Sep;59(9):5165-70. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01087-15. Epub 2015 Jun 8. PubMed PMID: 26055381; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4538476.

Feng L, Maddox MM, Alam MZ, Tsutsumi LS, Narula G, Bruhn DF, Wu X, Sandhaus S, Lee RB, Simmons CJ, Tse-Dinh YC, Hurdle JG, Lee RE, Sun D. Synthesis, structure-activity relationship studies, and antibacterial evaluation of 4-chromanones and chalcones, as well as olympicin A and derivatives. J Med Chem. 2014 Oct 23;57(20):8398-420. doi: 10.1021/jm500853v. Epub 2014 Oct 7. PubMed PMID: 25238443; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4207537.

Wu X, Alam MZ, Feng L, Tsutsumi LS, Sun D, Hurdle JG. Prospects for flavonoid and related phytochemicals as nature-inspired treatments for Clostridium difficile infection. J Appl Microbiol. 2014 Jan;116(1):23-31. doi: 10.1111/jam.12344. PubMed PMID: 24479135; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3910234.