James Musser Download Headshot

James M. Musser, MD, PhD

  • Chair, Houston Methodist Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine
  • Professor of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute
  • Director, Houston Methodist Center for Molecular & Translational Human Infectious Diseases Research
  • Fondren Presidential Distinguished Chair, Houston Methodist Research Institute
Media Contact: Lisa Merkl , 832.667.5916

James M. Musser, MD, PhD

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Media Contact: Lisa Merkl , 832.667.5916

Areas of Expertise

  • Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
  • Flesh-eating disease/flesh-eating bacteria
  • Genomic medicine
  • Group A streptococcus
  • Infectious diseases
  • Klebsiella pneumonia
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • Necrotizing fasciitis
  • Necrotizing myositis
  • Pathogens
  • Sepsis
  • Strep throat
  • Superbugs

Credentials

Residency, University of Pennsylvania Health System
MD, University of Rochester

Publications

Increase in invasive Streptococcus pyogenes M1 infections with close evolutionary genetic relationship, Iceland and Scotland, 2022 to 2023
Beres, SB, Olsen, RJ, Long, SW, Langley, R, Williams, T, Erlendsdottir, H, Smith, A, Kristinsson, KG & Musser, JM 2024, , Eurosurveillance, vol. 29, no. 13. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.13.2400129

The Influence of Social Determinants on Receiving Outpatient Treatment with Monoclonal Antibodies, Disease Risk, and Effectiveness for COVID-19
Ambrose, N, Amin, A, Anderson, B, Bertagnolli, M, Campion, F, Chow, D, Danan, R, D’Arinzo, L, Drews, A, Erlandson, K, Fitzgerald, K, Gaspar, F, Gong, C, Hanna, G, Hawley, H, Jones, S, Lopansri, B, Mullen, T, Musser, J, O’Horo, J, Piantadosi, S, Pritt, B, Razonable, R, Rele, S, Roberts, S, Sandmeyer, S, Stein, D, Te, J, Vahidy, F, Webb, B, Welch, N, Wood, A & Yttri, J 2023, , Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 38, no. 16, pp. 3472-3481. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08324-y

Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates with features of both multidrug-resistance and hypervirulence have unexpectedly low virulence
Kochan, TJ, Nozick, SH, Valdes, A, Mitra, SD, Cheung, BH, Lebrun-Corbin, M, Medernach, RL, Vessely, MB, Mills, JO, Axline, CMR, Nelson, JA, VanGosen, EM, Ward, TJ, Ozer, EA, van Duin, D, Chen, L, Kreiswirth, BN, Long, SW, Musser, JM, Bulman, ZP, Wunderink, RG & Hauser, AR 2023, , Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 7962. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43802-1

The Influence of Social Determinants on Receiving Outpatient Treatment with Monoclonal Antibodies, Disease Risk, and Effectiveness for COVID-19
Ambrose, N, Amin, A, Anderson, B, Bertagnolli, M, Campion, F, Chow, D, Danan, R, D’Arinzo, L, Drews, A, Erlandson, K, Fitzgerald, K, Gaspar, F, Gong, C, Hanna, G, Hawley, H, Jones, S, Lopansri, B, Mullen, T, Musser, J, O’Horo, J, Piantadosi, S, Pritt, B, Razonable, R, Rele, S, Roberts, S, Sandmeyer, S, Stein, D, Te, J, Vahidy, F, Webb, B, Welch, N, Wood, A & Yttri, J 2023, , Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 38, no. 16, pp. 3472-3481. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08324-y

SARS-COV-2 Omicron variants conformationally escape a rare quaternary antibody binding mode
Goike, J, Hsieh, CL, Horton, AP, Gardner, EC, Zhou, L, Bartzoka, F, Wang, N, Javanmardi, K, Hebert, A, Abbasi, SA, Xie, X, Xia, H, Shi, PY, Renberg, R, Segall-Shapiro, T, Terrace, CI, Wu, W, Shroff, R, Byrom, M, Ellington, AD, Marcotte, EM, Musser, JM, Kuchipudi, SV, Kapur, V, Georgiou, G, Weaver, S, Dye, JM, Boutz, DR, McLellan, JS & Gollihar, JD 2023, , Communications Biology, vol. 6, 1250, pp. 1250. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05649-6

Integrating genomics, transcriptomics and virulence to study Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis (SDSE) strains causing severe infections in humans
Eraso, JM, Beres, SB, Olsen, RJ, Long, SW, Gadd, R, Boukthir, S, Faili, A, Kayal, S & Musser, JM 2023, , Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology Meeting, Salt lake City, United States, 10/22/23 - 10/25/23.

Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibody Use and COVID-19 Infection Outcomes
Ambrose, N, Amin, A, Anderson, B, Barrera-Oro, J, Bertagnolli, M, Campion, F, Chow, D, Danan, R, DArinzo, L, Drews, A, Erlandson, K, Fitzgerald, K, Garcia, M, Gaspar, FW, Gong, C, Hanna, G, Jones, S, Lopansri, B, Musser, J, OHoro, J, Piantadosi, S, Pritt, B, Razonable, RR, Roberts, S, Sandmeyer, S, Stein, D, Vahidy, F, Webb, B & Yttri, J 2023, , JAMA Network Open, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. e239694. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.9694

Analysis of the Genomics and Mouse Virulence of an Emergent Clone of Streptococcus dysgalactiae Subspecies equisimilis
Beres, SB, Olsen, RJ, Wesley Long, S, Eraso, JM, Boukthir, S, Faili, A, Kayal, S & Musser, JM 2023, , Microbiology Spectrum, vol. 11, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.04550-22

Genome-Wide Transposon Mutagenesis Screens Identify Group A Streptococcus Genes Affecting Susceptibility to ß-Lactam Antibiotics
Zhu, L, Eraso, JM, Mangham, RE, Saavedra, MO, Olsen, RJ, Beres, SB & Musser, JM 2022, , Journal of bacteriology, vol. 204, no. 12. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00287-22

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) Infection of Wild White-Tailed Deer in New York City
Vandegrift, KJ, Yon, M, Surendran Nair, M, Gontu, A, Ramasamy, S, Amirthalingam, S, Neerukonda, S, Nissly, RH, Chothe, SK, Jakka, P, LaBella, L, Levine, N, Rodriguez, S, Chen, C, Sheersh Boorla, V, Stuber, T, Boulanger, JR, Kotschwar, N, Aucoin, SG, Simon, R, Toal, KL, Olsen, RJ, Davis, JJ, Bold, D, Gaudreault, NN, Dinali Perera, K, Kim, Y, Chang, KO, Maranas, CD, Richt, JA, Musser, JM, Hudson, PJ, Kapur, V & Kuchipudi, SV 2022, , Viruses, vol. 14, no. 12, 2770. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14122770

Characterization of M-Type-Specific Pilus Expression in Group A Streptococcus
Roshika, R, Jain, I, Glenaldo, T, Sickler, T, Musser, JM & Sumby, P 2022, , Journal of bacteriology, vol. 204, no. 11. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00270-22

A Chimeric Penicillin Binding Protein 2X Significantly Decreases in Vitro Beta-Lactam Susceptibility and Increases in Vivo Fitness of Streptococcus pyogenes
Olsen, RJ, Zhu, L, Mangham, RE, Faili, A, Kayal, S, Beres, SB & Musser, JM 2022, , American Journal of Pathology, vol. 192, no. 10, pp. 1397-1406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2022.06.011

Transmission history of SARS-CoV-2 in humans and white-tailed deer
Willgert, K, Didelot, X, Surendran-Nair, M, Kuchipudi, SV, Ruden, RM, Yon, M, Nissly, RH, Vandegrift, KJ, Nelli, RK, Li, L, Jayarao, BM, Levine, N, Olsen, RJ, Davis, JJ, Musser, JM, Hudson, PJ, Kapur, V & Conlan, AJK 2022, , Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 12094, pp. 12094. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16071-z

Human M1 macrophages express unique innate immune response genes after mycobacterial infection to defend against tuberculosis
Khan, A, Zhang, K, Singh, VK, Mishra, A, Kachroo, P, Bing, T, Won, JH, Mani, A, Papanna, R, Mann, LK, Ledezma-Campos, E, Aguillon-Duran, G, Canaday, DH, David, SA, Restrepo, BI, Viet, NN, Phan, H, Graviss, EA, Musser, JM, Kaushal, D, Gauduin, MC & Jagannath, C 2022, , Communications Biology, vol. 5, no. 1, 480, pp. 480. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03387-9

Signals of Significantly Increased Vaccine Breakthrough, Decreased Hospitalization Rates, and Less Severe Disease in Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 Caused by the Omicron Variant of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Houston, Texas
Christensen, PA, Olsen, RJ, Long, SW, Snehal, R, Davis, JJ, Ojeda Saavedra, M, Reppond, K, Shyer, MN, Cambric, J, Gadd, R, Thakur, RM, Batajoo, A, Mangham, R, Pena, S, Trinh, T, Kinskey, JC, Williams, G, Olson, R, Gollihar, J & Musser, JM 2022, , American Journal of Pathology, vol. 192, no. 4, pp. 642-652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2022.01.007

Multiple spillovers from humans and onward transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer
Kuchipudi, SV, Surendran-Nair, M, Ruden, RM, Yon, M, Nissly, RH, Vandegrift, KJ, Nelli, RK, Li, L, Jayarao, BM, Maranas, CD, Levine, N, Willgert, K, Conlan, AJK, Olsen, RJ, Davis, JJ, Musser, JM, Hudson, PJ & Kapur, V 2022, , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 119, no. 6, e2121644119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121644119

Delta Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Cause Significantly Increased Vaccine Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases in Houston, Texas
Christensen, PA, Olsen, RJ, Long, SW, Subedi, S, Davis, JJ, Hodjat, P, Walley, DR, Kinskey, JC, Ojeda Saavedra, M, Pruitt, L, Reppond, K, Shyer, MN, Cambric, J, Gadd, R, Thakur, RM, Batajoo, A, Mangham, R, Pena, S, Trinh, T, Yerramilli, P, Nguyen, M, Olson, R, Snehal, R, Gollihar, J & Musser, JM 2022, , American Journal of Pathology, vol. 192, no. 2, pp. 320-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.10.019

Integrative Reverse Genetic Analysis Identifies Polymorphisms Contributing to Decreased Antimicrobial Agent Susceptibility in Streptococcus pyogenes
Beres, SB, Zhu, L, Pruitt, L, Olsen, RJ, Faili, A, Kayal, S & Musser, JM 2022, , mBio, vol. 13, no. 1, e03618, pp. e0361821. https://doi.org/10.1128/MBIO.03618-21

Antibody escape and cryptic cross-domain stabilization in the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike protein
Javanmardi, K, Segall-Shapiro, TH, Chou, CW, Boutz, DR, Olsen, RJ, Xie, X, Xia, H, Shi, PY, Johnson, CD, Annapareddy, A, Weaver, S, Musser, JM, Ellington, AD, Finkelstein, IJ & Gollihar, JD 2022, , Cell Host and Microbe, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 1242-1254.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.07.016

Genome-wide transposon mutagenesis screens identify group A streptococcus genes affecting susceptibility to beta-lactam antibiotics
Zhu, L, Eraso, JM, Mangham, R, Ojeda Saavedra, M, Olsen, RJ, Beres, SB & Musser, JM 2022, , Journal of bacteriology. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00287-22

Languages

  • English