By Marisa Gilbert

Lee University’s Dr. Benjamin Christmann, assistant professor of biology and health science, co-authored an article that was recently honored as “Featured Article of the Week” by the online journal PLOS Pathogens.

The article, titled “Dysregulation of Systemic and Mucosal Humoral Responses to Microbial and Food Antigens as a Factor Contributing to Microbial Translocation and Chronic Inflammation in HIV-1 Infection,” demonstrates one of the key mechanisms leading to dysregulated immune responses and bacterial-driven inflammation observed in HIV+ individuals. Other contributing authors were colleagues of Christmann from his time at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“I am glad that several years of hard work have finally paid off for [us],” said Christmann. “In the struggle to publish, it is a blessing to have our work noticed in such a distinguished fashion.”

PLOS Pathogens is an online journal run by an international editorial board that publishes outstanding original research and commentary that significantly advance the understanding of pathogens and how they interact with their host organisms.

Christmann joined the Lee faculty in the fall of 2013 after four years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s department of medicine. Prior to that, he worked as a research technician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Christmann earned his Doctor of Philosophy at St. Louis University and his Bachelor of Arts from Covenant College.

For more information or to view the article visit PLOS.