Wallace, Richard, M.D.

← BACK  

Contact: richard.wallace@uthct.edu

Research Interest:
Mycobacteria; Nocardia

Research Overview:

• The use of DNA fingerprinting using pulsed field gel electrophoresis and PCR techniques such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR to separate individual strains as a tool for studies of the epidemiology and transmission of infections due to the nontuberculous mycobacteria as well as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• Drug susceptibilities and the use of drugs other than sulfonamides for therapy of the opportunistic pathogen nocardia. Relationship of drug susceptibility patterns in this species to taxonomic grouping. Use of PCR for rapid species identification.
• Development of new drugs, better standardized methods of susceptibility testing, defining the mechanisms and genetics of drug resistance in the rapidly growing mycobacteria (i.e., M. fortuitum, M. chelonae, M. abscessus). Clinical correlation of the results of therapy with susceptibility results. Characterization of a new species of mycobacteria associated with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in association with metal grinding.
• Taxonomy (recognition and characterization) of new pathogenic (i.e. disease producing) species of rapidly growing mycobacteria and nocardia. The use of DNA fingerprinting using pulsed field gel electrophoresis and PCR techniques such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR to separate individual strains as a tool for studies of the epidemiology and transmission of infections due to the nontuberculous mycobacteria as well as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Previous studies have resulted in the naming of 4 new species, including Mycobacterium mucogenicum , Mycobacterium goodii , Mycobacterium wolinskyi , and Nocardia pseudobrasiliensis.

Selected Papers and Abstracts:

• Schinsky MF, Morey RE, Steigerwalt AG, Douglas MP, Wilson RW, Floyd MM, Butler WR, Daneshvar MI, Brown-Elliott BA, Wallace RJ Jr, McNeil MM, Brenner DJ, Brown JM. Taxonomic variation in the Mycobacterium fortuitum third biovariant complex: description of Mycobacterium boenickei sp. nov., Mycobacterium houstonense sp. nov., Mycobacterium neworleansense sp. nov. and Mycobacterium brisbanense sp. nov. and recognition of Mycobacterium porcinum from human clinical isolates. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2004 Sep;54(Pt 5):1653-67.
• Patel JB, Wallace RJ Jr, Brown-Elliott BA, Taylor T, Imperatrice C, Leonard DG, Wilson RW, Mann L, Jost KC, Nachamkin I. Sequence-based identification of aerobic actinomycetes. J Clin Microbiol. 2004 Jun;42(6):2530-40.
• Zhang Y, Mann LB, Wilson RW, Brown-Elliott BA, Vincent V, Iinuma Y, Wallace RJ Jr. Molecular analysis of Mycobacterium kansasii isolates from the United States. J Clin Microbiol. 2004 Jan;42(1):119-25.
• Griffith DE, Brown-Elliott BA, Wallace RJ Jr. Thrice-weekly clarithromycin-containing regimen for treatment of Mycobacterium kansasii lung disease: results of a preliminary study. Clin Infect Dis. 2003 Nov 1;37(9):1178-82.
• Brown-Elliott BA, Crist CJ, Mann LB, Wilson RW, Wallace RJ Jr. In vitro activity of linezolid against slowly growing nontuberculous Mycobacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2003 May;47(5):1736-8.
• Tiwari TS, Ray B, Jost KC Jr, Rathod MK, Zhang Y, Brown-Elliott BA, Hendricks K, Wallace RJ Jr. Forty years of disinfectant failure: outbreak of postinjection Mycobacterium abscessus infection caused by contamination of benzalkonium chloride. Clin Infect Dis. 2003 Apr 15;36(8):954-62.
• Brown-Elliott BA, Griffith DE, Wallace RJ Jr. Diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacterial infections. Clin Lab Med. 2002 Dec;22(4):911-25, vi.
• Wallace RJ Jr, Zhang Y, Wilson RW, Mann L, Rossmoore H. Presence of a single genotype of the newly described species Mycobacterium immunogenum in industrial metalworking fluids associated with hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2002 Nov;68(11):5580-4.
• Meyers H, Brown-Elliott BA, Moore D, Curry J, Truong C, Zhang Y, Wallace RJ Jr. An outbreak of Mycobacterium chelonae infection following liposuction. Clin Infect Dis. 2002 Jun 1;34(11):1500-7.
• Griffith DE, Brown BA, Girard WM, Griffith BE, Couch LA, Wallace RJ Jr. Azithromycin-containing regimens for treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease. Clin Infect Dis. 2001 Jun 1;32(11):1547-53.