Dr. Shanks received his PhD in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Tufts Medical School in a laboratory studying chromosome segregation and meiotic recombination using budding yeast as a model organism. He went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Dartmouth Medical School in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology on bacterial biofilms. Dr. Shanks’ lab uses molecular genetics to understand mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis of the eye and antibiotic resistance and tolerance. His team is also highly interested in translational research and has projects on drug delivery of biologics to the ocular surface, use of predatory bacteria as living antimicrobials, and antibiotic development using ocular models.
- Dartmouth Medical School, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Microbiology and Immunology
- Tufts Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences, PhD, Molecular Microbiology
- Alfred University, BA, Biology
Education & Training
Moxifloxacin-resistant and moxifloxacin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Keratitis: Outcomes from a 10-year retrospective study. Diacou R, Singh RB, Romanowski EG, Mandell JB, Mammen A, Shanks RMQ, Jhanji V. Ocul Surf. 2025 Jun 23;38:97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2025.06.008. PMID: 40562210
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus has Phenotypic Variation in mecA Expression that Alters Antibiotic Sensitivity. Ma D, Arya R, Knapick BA, Sadaka N, Rempuszewski J, Moul C, Mandell JB, Shah NB, Doub JB, Gish C, Parker D, Sydlik SA, Wood H, Cooper VS, Richardson AR, Shanks RMQ, Urish KL. bioRxiv. 2025 May 28:2025.05.28.656574. doi: 10.1101/2025.05.28.656574. PMID: 40501806
Double Povidone-Iodine 5% Preparation Before Cataract Surgery for Endophthalmitis Prevention. Odden JL, Winters J, Zlotcavitch L, Mammen A, Romanowski EG, Shanks RMQ, Dhaliwal DK. Eye Contact Lens. 2025 Apr 1;51(4):161-164. doi: 10.1097/ICL.0000000000001164. Epub 2025 Jan 21. PMID: 39836936
Efficacy of Cefiderocol Against Endophthalmitis Isolates. Schilling B, Hii M, Shanks HQ, Romanowski EG, Mandell JB, Shanks RMQ, Zegans M. Antibiotics (Basel). 2024 Dec 23;13(12):1236. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13121236. PMID: 39766626
The Efficacy of Topical Cefiderocol Treatment of Experimental Extensively Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Keratitis Is Dependent upon the State of the Corneal Epithelium. Romanowski EG, Mandell JB, Jhanji V, Shanks RMQ. Antibiotics (Basel). 2024 Oct 17;13(10):979. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13100979. PMID: 39452245
The major goals of the laboratory are:
- Discover mechanisms of bacterial virulence factor regulation including biofilm formation
- Host-pathogen interactions between ocular pathogens and the cornea
- Conduct translational/applied research to develop new antimicrobials and molecular tools to manipulate microbes
The microbes that we focus on are Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, as these are major causes of corneal infections and antibiotic-resistant hospital infections. We are also interested in using predatory prokaryotes, bacteria that eat other bacteria, as a potential new therapeutic approach to fighting antibiotic resistant ocular infections.
Our approach is to exploit the power of molecular genetics to gain insights into complex biological processes. This is then coupled with microscopy, biochemistry and molecular biology to gain insight into molecular mechanisms.