Karen Bush

Karen Bush, a professor of practice in biotechnology in the Department of Biology, has 35 years of experience in basic research, antibiotic drug discover and drug development. She is considered to be one of the leading experts on resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics — penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems — by studying beta-lactamases, the naturally occurring enzymes that destroy these drugs.

Bush also leads a research group in the biotechnology program that studies antibiotic resistance and new drugs that can counteract resistance, especially in carbapenem-resistant bacteria. She helped develop five antibiotics that are currently on the market and has been published in more than 210 publications.

She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiologists and is a professor of practice in biotechnology in the IU Bloomington Department of Biology. Bush has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from IU Bloomington.

Areas of Expertise

Antibiotic resistance, new antibacterial agents, epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.