Associate Professor Martin McGavin, Departments of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, leads research on Staphylococcus aureus, innate immunity, antimicrobial peptides, antibiotic resistance, and gene regulation. His laboratory studies how Staphylococcus aureus senses, adapts to, and survives chemical signals of innate immunity, including antimicrobial fatty acids, acidic pH, and host defence molecules. His research mission is to uncover microbial mechanisms of colonization and resistance that can inform better approaches to infectious disease. He also supervises trainees in a department strongly focused on infection, immunity, and human disease.