Dr. Priebe's research interests center on the pathogenesis of and immunity to infections caused by the Gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is an important cause of hospital-acquired infections in critically ill and immunocompromised individuals, corneal infections in wearers of contact lenses, and chronic pneumonia in patients with cystic fibrosis. A particular focus is on the use of live, attenuated strains of P. aeruginosa as candidate intranasal vaccines. Using animal models, Dr. Priebe and collaborators have shown that nasal immunization with aroA deletion mutants of P. aeruginosa elicits high levels of systemic opsonic antibody as well as cellular immunity. This immunization strategy provides potent protection against infection in models of lethal pneumonia and of ulcerative keratitis of the cornea and, in preliminary studies, can delay chronic oropharyngeal P. aeruginosa colonization of CF mice. An understanding of the immunologic basis for the protective efficacy of these attenuated mucosal vaccines is an area of active investigation. Antibody alone is effective in corneal infections while in pneumonia both antibody and cellular immunity, particularly CD4+ T cells, are required. Ongoing work is deciphering the critical components of the cellular immune response to these live, attenuated vaccines. Another project in the lab centers on the role of LPS structure in the pathogenesis of acute P. aeruginosa pneumonia. Dr. Priebe and colleagues have found that LPS-rough mutants of P. aeruginosa, which lack the LPS O antigen and have a truncated LPS core, are attenuated and, due to serum sensitivity, cannot disseminate but are nevertheless able to cause severe lung injury. Current work is defining both from bacterial and host perspectives the molecular and cellular mechanisms of lung injury due to these LPS-rough strains. Recent studies are also examining the inflammatory response in the normal and CF lung to bacteria in the Burkholderia cepacia complex, an emerging Gram-negative pathogen in CF patients. Methods used in Dr. Priebe's laboratory span multiple fields, including molecular biology, microbiology, molecular and cellular immunology, and animal models of infections.

Dr. Priebe joined the faculty of Children's Hospital Boston in October 2001. In July 2004, he became the Associate Program Director of the Fellowship Program in Pediatric Critical Care. He also holds the position of Associate Physician at the Channing Laboratory of Brigham and Women's Hospital, where his research lab is located.

Dr. Priebe earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and then went on to complete residency and chief residency in Pediatrics followed by fellowships in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Critical Care, all at Children's Hospital Boston. He is board-certified in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Critical Care.