Matthew Kelly, MD, MPH
Asst. Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)
Program Dir., Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship
Asst. Dir., Duke Pediatric Research Scholars Program
Associate Dir. of Physician-Scientist Development,
Office of Pediatric Education
About my role in the ARLG
I’m an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Duke University. I’m also a faculty member in the Duke Microbiome Center and the Duke Global Health Institute, and have several leadership roles in the Department of Pediatrics through which I work to support the research training and career development of pediatric residents and fellows who aspire to have research-oriented careers.
I am the lead investigator of the RESistance In Stem cell Transplant Microbiome (RESISTOME) Study. This ARLG-funded study seeks to understand risk factors for the acquisition of antibiotic-resistant bacteria among hospitalized children and adolescents.
This study included 50 children and adolescents who underwent stem cell transplantation at Duke University between 2015 and 2018 and used advanced sequencing techniques to identify the full collection of antibiotic resistance genes (“the resistome”) in the gut microbiomes of these children. This study aims to inform antibiotic stewardship, infection control, and other strategies to prevent the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in health care settings.
About my research
I was awarded an Early Stage Investigator Seed Grant to conduct the RESistance In Stem cell Transplant Microbiome (RESISTOME) Study. This grant provided support for enrollment of study participants, collection of stool samples, and generation of microbiome sequencing data from these samples.
Impact of the ARLG funding to my career
My long-term career goal is to develop strategies to prevent and treat infections in children through targeted modification of the microbiome. The support that I received from the ARLG provided me with a number of opportunities for professional development and was critical to my success as I transitioned from fellowship to junior faculty at Duke University.
With the research support provided by this grant, I was able to gain experience conducting a clinical microbiome study and performing microbiome data analyses. With these skills, I was awarded a microbiome-focused Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. This grant is providing me with protected time for research as I conduct a study of mother-infant pairs in Botswana and seek to understand how the respiratory microbiome influences the risk of pneumonia among children. I also was the Runner-up Awardee for the Society for Pediatric Research Physician-Scientist Award in 2018, an award that provided additional support for my research program. ARLG funding also helped me to develop my publication history in the microbiome, leading directly to two manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals (with several other manuscripts in preparation).
Finally, ARLG support enabled me to generate a rich dataset and an extensive sample repository that has supported additional analyses conducted by me and my research mentees. One of these research mentees, has been awarded a training grant from the National Institutes of Health and is using the dataset from this ARLG project to study infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.