Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Birket received her PharmD from the University of Kansas in 2007. She received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, with an emphasis in Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics, from the University of Kentucky, under the mentorship of Dr. David Feola. After graduating in 2012, she joined the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division as a T32 trainee, under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Rowe.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2022 Acute Infection with a Tobramycin-Induced Small Colony Variant of Staphylococcus aureus Causes Increased Inflammation in the Cystic Fibrosis Rat Lung.  Infection and Immunity.  19. 2022
    2022 A step forward for an intermediate cystic fibrosis population.  European Respiratory Journal.  60. 2022
    2022 Inhaled gene therapy of preclinical muco-obstructive lung diseases by nanoparticles capable of breaching the airway mucus barrier.  Thorax.  77:812-820. 2022
    2022 Alternative Chloride Channels are Increased in the CFTR-/- Rat Airway 2022
    2022 Muc5b Contributes to Mucus Abnormality in Rat Models of Cystic Fibrosis.  Frontiers in Physiology.  13. 2022
    2022 Static mucus impairs bacterial clearance and allows chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the cystic fibrosis rat..  European Respiratory Journal.  2022
    2022 Poly (acetyl, arginyl) glucosamine disrupts Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms and enhances bacterial clearance in a rat lung infection model.  Microbiology.  168. 2022
    2021 The big impact of small Airway pH.  American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.  65:123-125. 2021
    2021 Ivacaftor partially corrects airway inflammation in a humanized G551D rat 2021
    2020 A Novel G542X CFTR Rat Model of Cystic Fibrosis Is Sensitive to Nonsense Mediated Decay.  Frontiers in Physiology.  11. 2020
    2020 Development of a Broadly Protective, Self-Adjuvanting Subunit Vaccine to Prevent Infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Frontiers in Immunology.  11. 2020
    2020 Ivacaftor reverses airway mucus abnormalities in a rat model harboring a humanized G551D-CFTR.  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.  202:1271-1282. 2020
    2020 Novel therapy of bicarbonate, glutathione, and ascorbic acid improves cystic fibrosis mucus transport.  American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.  63:362-373. 2020
    2020 Excess mucus viscosity and airway dehydration impact COPD airway clearance.  European Respiratory Journal.  55. 2020
    2019 Revealing the molecular signaling pathways of mucus stasis in cystic fibrosis.  Journal of Clinical Investigation.  129:4089-4090. 2019
    2019 Azithromycin polarizes macrophages to an M2 phenotype via inhibition of the STAT1 and NF-kB signaling pathways.  Journal of Immunology.  203:1021-1030. 2019
    2019 Intranasal micro-optical coherence tomography imaging for cystic fibrosis studies.  Science Translational Medicine.  11. 2019
    2019 Non-obstructive vas deferens and epididymis loss in cystic fibrosis rats.  Mechanisms of Development.  155:15-26. 2019
    2019 A glycopolymer improves vascoelasticity and mucociliary transport of abnormal cystic fibrosis mucus.  JCI Insight.  4. 2019
    2018 Corrigendum to: Roadmap for an early gene therapy for cystic fibrosis airway disease (Prenatal Diagnosis, (2017), 13, 7, (1181-1190), 10.1002/pd.51645164).  Prenatal Diagnosis.  38:979. 2018
    2018 A revised airway epithelial hierarchy includes CFTR-expressing ionocytes.  Nature.  560:319-324. 2018
    2018 An Adeno-Associated Viral Vector Capable of Penetrating the Mucus Barrier to Inhaled Gene Therapy 2018
    2018 Development of an airway mucus defect in the cystic fibrosis rat.  JCI Insight.  3. 2018
    2018 A clean sweep: Mucin bundles clear the airway.  European Respiratory Journal.  52. 2018
    2017 Klotho Inhibits Interleukin-8 Secretion from Cystic Fibrosis Airway Epithelia.  Scientific Reports.  7. 2017
    2017 Roadmap for an early gene therapy for cystic fibrosis airway disease.  Prenatal Diagnosis.  37:1181-1190. 2017
    2017 Reduced bone length, growth plate thickness, bone content, and IGF-I as a model for poor growth in the CFTR-deficient rat.  PLoS One.  12. 2017
    2017 Assessment of ciliary phenotype in primary ciliary dyskinesia by micro-optical coherence tomography.  JCI Insight.  2. 2017
    2017 Flexible, high-resolution micro-optical coherence tomography endobronchial probe toward in vivo imaging of cilia.  Optics Letters.  42:867-870. 2017
    2017 Pneumocystis infection alters the activation state of pulmonary macrophages.  Immunobiology.  222:188-197. 2017
    2016 Particle-Tracking Microrheology Using Micro-Optical Coherence Tomography.  Biophysical Journal.  111:1053-1063. 2016
    2016 In vivo imaging of airway cilia and mucus clearance with micro-optical coherence tomography.  Biomedical Optics Express.  7:2494-2505. 2016
    2016 Mutation of Growth Arrest Specific 8 Reveals a Role in Motile Cilia Function and Human Disease.  PLoS Genetics.  12. 2016
    2016 Combination therapy with cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator modulators augment the airway functional microanatomy 2016
    2015 Defective innate immunity and hyperinflammation in newborn cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator-knockout ferret lungs.  American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.  52:683-694. 2015
    2014 An autoregulatory mechanism governing mucociliary transport is sensitive to mucus load.  American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.  51:485-493. 2014
    2014 A functional anatomic defect of the cystic fibrosis airway.  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.  190:421-432. 2014
    2014 Characterization of defects in ion transport and tissue development in Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR)-knockout rats.  PLoS One.  9. 2014
    2014 Impact of azithromycin treatment on macrophage gene expression in subjects with cystic fibrosis.  Journal of Cystic Fibrosis.  13:164-171. 2014
    2013 Linezolid decreases susceptibility to secondary bacterial pneumonia postinfluenza infection in mice through its effects on IFN-γ.  Journal of Immunology.  191:1792-1799. 2013
    2013 Azithromycin increases in vitro fibronectin production through interactions between macrophages and fibroblasts stimulated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.  68:840-851. 2013
    2013 Method for Quantitative Study of Airway Functional Microanatomy Using Micro-Optical Coherence Tomography.  PLoS One.  8. 2013
    2010 Azithromycin alters macrophage phenotype and pulmonary compartmentalization during lung infection with Pseudomonas.  Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.  54:2437-2447. 2010
    2008 The C-terminus of IpaC is required for effector activities related to Shigella invasion of host cells.  Microbial Pathogenesis.  45:282-289. 2008
    2008 pH sensitivity of type III secretion system tip proteins 2008
    2007 Preparation and characterization of translocator/chaperone complexes and their component proteins from Shigella flexneri.  Biochemistry.  46:8128-8137. 2007
    2007 Self-chaperoning of the type III secretion system needle tip proteins IpaD and BipD.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  282:4035-4044. 2007
    2006 Expression, limited proteolysis and preliminary crystallographic analysis of IpaD, a component of the Shigella flexneri type III secretion system.  Acta Crystallographica Section F: Structural Biology Communications.  62:865-868. 2006
    2006 Characterization of the interaction of single tryptophan containing mutants of IpaC from Shigella flexneri with phospholipid membranes.  Biochemistry.  45:626-636. 2006

    Research Overview

  • Dr. Birket has examined in detail the relationship between the CFTR dysfunction, the airway epithelium, and properties of airway mucus in cystic fibrosis. She is particularly interested in the relationship between Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as other pathogens, and the airway mucus in diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis. Dr. Birket currently directs the Cystic Fibrosis Knockout Rat colony at UAB, and is focusing on the CF rat as a model of cystic fibrosis airway disease for the purpose of evaluating new therapies.

    • Principal Investigator On

  • Abnormal Mucus as the Initiating Factor in P. Aeruginosa Infection in CF  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Bacterial Interactions During Chronic Infection in the CF Rat Lung  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • CF Summer Research Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Cystic Fibrosis Research Center  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Development of A Broadly Protective Subunit Vaccine Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa  awarded by University of Kansas
  • Development of Hyperinflammation in the Cystic Fibrosis Rat  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Mechanisms of and Therapies for Abnormal Mucus Adhesion and Clearance in CF  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Mechanisms of and Therapies for Abnormal Mucus Adhesion and Clearance in CF  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Private Grant  awarded by Gilead Sciences ^
  • Private Grant  awarded by VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
  • Private Grant  awarded by ENTERPRISE THERAPEUTICS
  • Private Grant  awarded by ENTERPRISE THERAPEUTICS
  • Private Grant  awarded by ARCTURUS THERAPEUTICS INC.
  • Private Grant  awarded by ENTRINSIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS INC.
  • Private Grant  awarded by ARCTURUS THERAPEUTICS INC.
  • Private Grant  awarded by ELOXX PHARMACEUTICALS
  • The CF Rat as an In Vivo Model of Airway Infection  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • The Mechanisms Underlying Abnormal Mucus and its Clearance in the Cystic Fibrosis Rat  awarded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH/DHHS
  • The Mechanisms Underlying the Muco-Inflammatory Cycle in the CF Lung  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • The Mucociliary Clearance Defect of the Cystic Fibrosis Rat  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • The Role of Airway Mucus in Infection and Inflammation  awarded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH/DHHS
  • UAB Research and Development Program  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Vaccines To Counter Emerging Antibiotic Resistance  awarded by University of Kansas

    • Investigator On

  • A Novel Proteolytic System of Pulmonary Inflammation  awarded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH/DHHS
  • Advancing Delivery of Novel Genome Editing Enzymes to Correct Orphan CF Mutations  awarded by University of California, Berkeley
  • CFTR and the CF Rat Islet: A Novel Model for the Study of CFRD  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Core Center for Measurements of Mucus and Mucociliary Clearance  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Mechanisms of and Therapies for Abnormal Mucus Adhesion and Clearance in CF  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Mechanistic Link Between Rescue of CFTR Mediated Anion Transport, Airway Surface Liquid Regulation, and Mucociliary Transport by CFTR Modulators  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • Private Grant  awarded by VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
  • Targeting Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors in Cystic Fibrosis-Associated Airway Inflammation and Mucociliary Dysfunction  awarded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH/DHHS
  • The Mucociliary Clearance Defect of the Cystic Fibrosis Rat  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^
  • UAB CF Research and Translation Core Center  awarded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS
  • UAB CF Research and Translation Core Center  awarded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS
  • UAB CF Research and Translation Core Center - Core B  awarded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH/DHHS
  • UAB Research and Development Program  awarded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ^

    • Education And Training

  • University of Kentucky, Other
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration, University of Kentucky 2012

    • Full Name

  • Susan Birket