Kim Orth

Kim Orth is a Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Her research focuses on understanding bacterial virulence mechanisms, particularly how pathogens like Yersinia and Vibrio parahaemolyticus subvert host signaling pathways. She discovered novel post-translational modifications such as YopJ acetylation and VopS AMPylation, which are critical for pathogen-host interactions. Orth also explores environmental Vibrio strains, AMPylation in metazoans, and rice blast fungus pathogenicity. Her lab investigates cancer cell exosomes' role in transformation and has developed innovative models for studying recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTI).

Key achievements include identifying metacaspases' roles in fungal development and stress responses, elucidating V-ATPase inhibition by Vibrio VopQ, and advancing understanding of exosome-mediated cancer progression. She co-hosted international virtual conferences on AMPylation and Vibrio research during the pandemic. Orth actively promotes women in science through leadership roles at ASBMB, FASEB, and Gordon Conferences.

Her honors include the 2021 Beth Levine MD Prize in Autophagy Research and the 2018 ASBMB Merck Award. She holds the Earl A. Forsythe Chair in Biomedical Science and is a W.W. Caruth Jr. Scholar. Her lab employs interdisciplinary approaches spanning microbiology, biochemistry, and cellular biology to uncover fundamental mechanisms in pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions.