Nina Salama, PhD

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Nina Salama PhD
faculty member

Nina Salama, PhD

Senior Vice President, Education, Fred Hutch

Senior Vice President
Education, Fred Hutch

Professor, Human Biology Division, Fred Hutch

Professor
Human Biology Division, Fred Hutch

Professor, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Professor
Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Dr. Penny E. Petersen Memorial Chair for Lymphoma Research, Fred Hutch

Dr. Penny E. Petersen Memorial Chair for Lymphoma Research
Fred Hutch

Affiliate Professor, Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Affiliate Professor
Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Member, Translational Data Science Integrated Research Center (TDS IRC), Fred Hutch

Member
Translational Data Science Integrated Research Center (TDS IRC), Fred Hutch

Fax: 206.667.6524
Mail Stop: C3-168

Dr. Nina Salama studies Helicobacter pylori, a stomach bacterium that infects half the world’s population and is associated with ulcers and gastric cancer — the third leading cancer killer worldwide. Her team found that H. pylori’s unique corkscrew shape allows the bug to colonize the stomach by burrowing into the mucus lining where it is protected from the acidic environment. They found a set of key proteins responsible for the bacterium’s twisty form. H. pylori that lack these proteins cannot set up shop in the stomach, making these proteins possible new drug targets to prevent infection. Dr. Salama is trying to understand why only some people infected with H. pylori develop stomach cancer, and how genetic variations in the bacterium affect human disease and transmission. She also works to understand how a person’s immune response to the bug influences the course of their infection.

Other Appointments & Affiliations

Director, Cancer Research and Training Education Coordination Program, Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium

Director, Cancer Research and Training Education Coordination Program
Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium

Education

PhD, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 1995

BS, Honors Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1989

Research Interests

The mechanisms by which Helicobacter pylori can establish and maintain a chronic infection in the unusual environment of the human stomach and the molecular cross talk between the host and the bacteria during the decades long infection

H. pylori genomic diversity

Genetic Analysis of H. pylori virulence factors

Mechanistic studies of H. pylori virulence; Cell wall modification and cell shape; DNA metabolism

"Increased understanding of our biological complexity will help us understand ourselves better and inform new strategies to treat disease."

— Dr. Nina Salama

Find an Active Clinical Trial Led by Dr. Salama

Dr. Salama in the News

Finding passion and community

Hutch News - October 24, 2024

A molecular twist on bacterial cell shape

Science Spotlight - October 17, 2022

Science Says: Cracking the code in solid tumors

Hutch News - October 13, 2021