David Roberts, PhD

Scientist II

David arrived at IDRI in 2007 to continue efforts in the discovery of new drugs and drug targets in the fight against tuberculosis as part of the TB Discovery Research group led by Professor Tanya Parish.

Originally from Kenbridge, Virginia, David obtained his BSc in Biology from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He then went on to perform his graduate studies in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Virginia under the supervision of Dr. Richard Marconi. David's graduate work focused on mechanisms of pathogenesis of Borrelia that cause Lyme disease and relapsing fever. With a strong interest in pathogens that cause human disease, David made his way to the Northwest as a post-doc at the University of Washington in the laboratory of Dr. David Sherman where he focused on discovery of new drug targets in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by analyzing gene expression in lesions from infected patients.

 As part of the TB Discovery group, David is working to identify new drug targets in M. tuberculosis that may lead to therapeutic drug development. To complement this work, David is also developing novel methods to validate potential drug targets in M. tuberculosis.