Glenn Werneburg, MD, PhD, is a Physician Scientist and a Urology Fellow at University of Michigan. He did his residency in urology at Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He received the MD and PhD degrees from Stony Brook University Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), where he trained as a physician-scientist, and was the recipient of a NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Fellowship (F30) training grant. His laboratory investigations have translational focus with the goal of the implementation of discoveries into the clinic and operating room to improve the care of urologic patients.
Glenn’s dissertation research was performed in the Thanassi Laboratory, and has focused on the chaperone-usher (CU) pathway, the mechanism by which bacteria assemble and secrete pili, which adhere to cells of the urinary tract and facilitate urinary tract infection. The research has led to advances in the understanding of the CU pathway including the discovery that the usher molecule of the pathway has the ability to function as an oligomer, the identification of a novel regulatory mechanism of the pathway that ensures quality of pilus assembly, and a model of the process in fine molecular detail. Novel therapeutics are now being screened that may interfere with these newly-discovered steps of the CU pathway, thus disrupting pilus assembly and the capacity of bacteria to cause urinary tract infection.
Research endeavors include the investigation of the urinary microbiome and bacterial biofilms, and their implications for urologic disease and treatment, as well as the role of neural networks in clinical prognostication. Specific interests include the natural history of biofilms on urinary catheters and other devices, as well as the role of the urinary microbiome in interstitial cystitis and other functional urologic pathology and treatment.