David N. Fredricks, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine

CONTACT INFORMATION
UW Box 358080, D3-100 
Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave N
D3-100
Seattle, Washington 98195


Phone: (206) 667-1935
Fax: (206) 667-4411
dfredric@u.washington.edu

LINK TO THE COMMUNITY OF SCIENCE WEBSITE:

LINK TO DAVID FREDRICKS COMMUNITY OF SCIENCE WEB PAGE


CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

We develop and apply molecular methods for the diagnosis of infectious diseases, and study the role of novel pathogens in a variety of syndromes.  We primarily employ nucleic acid sequence-based approaches to detect and identify microbes, which include methods such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with fluorescence microscopy.  Research interests include:

I. Molecular diagnosis of bacterial and fungal infections in the immunocompromised host.  Patients receiving radiation /chemotherapy for cancer and recipients of hematopoietic cell transplants are at risk for invasive infections caused by a large diversity of pathogens.  The diagnosis of many such infections remains challenging due to the poor sensitivity of conventional diagnostic tests.  We use PCRs targeting ribosomal RNA genes to detect cultivation-resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid obtained from patients with cancer. Several syndromes are of interest, including (1) fever with neutropenia and (2) unexplained pneumonia.

 II. The role of uncultivated bacteria in bacterial vaginosis (BV).  We study the bacterial community present in the human vagina by using cultivation-independent methods such as PCR and FISH. We have identified several novel, uncultivated bacteria associated with the syndrome bacterial vaginosis and are studying their role in pathogenesis.

PUBLICATIONS

Musher B, Fredricks DN, Balajee SA, Smith C, Marr KA. Utility of quantitative PCR and galactomannan ELISA for bronchoalveolar lavage diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. In press.

Fredricks DN, Relman DA.  Localization of Tropheryma whippelii  rRNA in tissues from patients with Whipple's disease.  Journal of Infectious Diseases 183:1229-37, 2001.

Fredricks DN, Jolley J, Lepp PW, Kosek J, Relman DA.  Rhinosporidium seeberi: A human pathogen from a novel group of aquatic protistan parasites.  Emerging Infectious Diseases 6: 273-82, 2000.

Fredricks DN, Relman DA.  State-of-the-art clinical article: The application of PCR to the diagnosis of infectious diseases. Clinical Infectious Diseases 29:475-86, 1999.