Faculty Sponsors: Christopher Born and Dioscaris Garcia

Bacteria form protective biofilms on the surface of spinal implants, which provide protection against antibiotics. This creates infections that necessitate the removal of the spinal device. Its removal can prove detrimental to the patient, causing a cascade of complications, ranging from prolonged infection to paralysis. David developed a comprehensive understanding of biofilm genesis in order to characterize bacterial adherence and biofilm formation on a variety of commonly used spinal implant devices to determine which materials are more or less susceptible to bacterial adherence and colonization.