Dr. Jason Yamaki

In addition to the degrees listed in the education section Education above, Dr. Yamaki holds the following credential: RPh. Dr. Yamaki completed his Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from California State University Dominguez Hills in May 2005. Subsequently, he completed his PharmD and PhD degrees at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy in 2009 and 2013, respectively. Prior to joining CUSP in May 2014, Dr. Yamaki was a Post-Doc Research Associate at the University of Southern California, School of Pharmacy as well as a lecturer in the Infectious Diseases module. While at USC Dr. Yamaki was awarded a highly competitive Clinical & Translational Science Institute pilot grant.

Dr. Yamaki’s area of research interests is in Infectious Diseases. His research combines both molecular and pharmacological approaches to address the therapeutic challenges of treating multidrug resistant and highly virulent bacteria. To date, Dr. Yamaki’s research has focused on the epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), patient outcomes and host response in various types of infections caused by MRSA, and the effects of inadequate antibiotic dosing on virulence and disease severity. Thus far his research methods have encompassed in-vitro cellular and in-vivo murine models of infection, epidemiologic and retrospective patient outcome studies, and prospective clinical studies.

Dr. Yamaki’s future studies will continue to explore virulence and resistance in MRSA, and as there are an increasing number of different drug resistant and virulent bacteria causing serious infections, exploration of novel therapeutic agents against various multidrug resistant organisms is planned.

Research Interests

Dr. Yamaki’s research focuses on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) virulence, resistance, molecular epidemiology, patient outcomes, and host response to infection. His research has explored the contribution of highly virulent Community Associated-MRSA strains in patient infections, exotoxin production by these strains, and modulatory effects by sub-inhibitory antibiotics on exotoxin production. Exotoxin contribution to disease and modulatory effects of antibiotics are tested in both in-vitro cell culture and murine models of infection. Aside from designing and performing laboratory experiments he has been involved in designing and conducting a number of clinical studies. While Dr. Yamaki’s research has focused on MRSA, investigations into other highly drug resistant and virulent bacteria are planned in the near future.