Rate My Professor Ryan Hunter

Ryan Hunter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, a position he has held since 2023. He previously served as Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Minnesota from 2020 to 2023 and Assistant Professor there from 2013 to 2020. Earlier appointments include postdoctoral fellowships in Biology at the California Institute of Technology from 2010 to 2013 and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2008 to 2010, as well as a Visiting Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph from 2022 to 2023. Hunter earned his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Guelph in 2007 and a BS in Microbiology from the same university in 2000. His research specializes in bacterial pathogenesis, focusing on infections in chronic airway diseases such as cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and sinusitis. The Hunter lab investigates complex polymicrobial communities, anaerobe-host interactions, mucus-microbe dynamics, and host chemical environments using approaches including genomics, imaging, analytical biochemistry, and bacterial genetics to develop novel therapeutic strategies.

Hunter's work has elucidated how anaerobic commensal microbes, such as Prevotella, Fusobacterium, Streptococcus, and Veillonella species, degrade mucins to produce short-chain fatty acids like propionate and butyrate, as well as amino acids, which inefficiently metabolized pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus exploit for growth and virulence. This research defines a critical role for commensals in cystic fibrosis airway disease and chronic sinusitis. Key publications include 'Commensal-derived short-chain fatty acids disrupt lipid membrane homeostasis in Staphylococcus aureus' (mBio, 2025), 'Host- and microbial-mediated mucin degradation differentially shape Pseudomonas aeruginosa physiology and gene expression' (PLoS Pathogens, 2025), 'Dual oxic-anoxic co-culture enables direct study of anaerobe-host interactions at the airway epithelial interface' (mBio, 2025), and 'Community ecology: the framework for next steps in microbiome research in chronic airway disease' (European Respiratory Journal, 2025). Hunter has received the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the NIH/NHLBI (2012), Most Engaging Professor, Upper Division (2019), Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor (2016), and Clinical and Translational Science Institute Mentor of the Year Honorable Mention (2016). He serves as principal investigator on active grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.