SEATRAC Spotlight: Hassan Eldesouky, PhD
Hassan Eldesouky completed his PhD at Purdue University and is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington. He currently works under the mentorship of David Sherman investigating Mtb genetics and drug responses. Hassan was a 2023 SEATRAC New Investigator Award Recipient for his project entitled "Chemical biology to eliminate TB persisters".
Eldesouky et all. The pH gradient contributes to persistence in Myconbacterium Tuberculosis, Re Sq [pre print]. 2025 Sep 15:rs.3.rs-7466214. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs 7466214/v1.PMID: 41001543 Free PMC article. Preprint.
Q&A with SEATRAC
- SEATRAC: What is the main takeaway for someone who has not yet read the paper?
- Hassan: We show that niclosamide, previously proposed as an anti-TB candidate, instead promotes antibiotic tolerance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mechanistically, niclosamide collapses the pH gradient, triggering intracellular acidification that drives a tunable antibiotic persistence state. This chemically induced persistence (CIP) model provides a rapid and tractable system to study TB persister biology.
- SEATRAC: What skills did you learn in the conduct of this work?
- Hassan: I developed expertise in drug screening for persistence modulators; intracellular pH, membrane potential, and ATP measurements; RNA-seq library preparation and transcriptomic/pathway analysis; and CRISPRi-based gene knockdown in M. tuberculosis.
- SEATRAC: If you had funding/interest, what would be the next logical step?
- Hassan: Leverage the CIP model for genome-wide genetic screens to identify core persister genes, pathways, and biomarkers, and to guide therapeutic strategies for eliminating TB persisters.
View more of our recent publications and register for the UCSF World TB Day event to hear Hassan give a lightening talk during the ESI panel.
- Eldesouky et.all The pH gradient contributes to persistence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Res Sq [Preprint]. 2025 Sep 15:rs.3.rs-7466214. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs 7466214/v1.PMID: 41001543 Free PMC article. Preprint.
