He received his PhD (magna cum laude) in Natural Sciences from University of Kiel, Germany, and did his Post-doctoral training in Molecular Microbiology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry at Brown University, USA. He received Young Scientist Award from Federation of European Microbiological Societies in 2002, and Infectious Diseases Fellows Grant from American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2008. His research is supported by NIH and private sectors. He is investigating C. difficile toxin-mediated signal transduction, leading to the production of proinflammatory mediators. He is also developing preventive and therapeutic approaches targeting C. diffcile toxins and proinflammatory mediators in Clostridium difficile infection.