Department of Pediatrics

Clinical Interests

Dr. Hunstad evaluates children with a variety of infectious diseases at St. Louis Children's Hospital. In his research laboratory in the McDonnell Pediatric Research Building, he studies the interactions of pathogenic bacteria with their hosts. He is particularly interested in mechanisms by which Gram-negative pathogens interfere with host immune responses in order to establish infection. Related projects in the laboratory are aimed at determining how bacteria assemble and utilize outer membrane protein virulence factors on their surfaces. He also participates in collaborative studies of methicillin-resistant Staph infections in children. The overarching goal of these studies is to develop new targets useful in the prevention and treatment of common bacterial infections.

Education

• BA, summa cum laude, Carleton College, 1991
• MD, Washington University School of Medicine, 1995

Training

• Intern and Resident in Pediatrics, St. Louis Children's Hospital, 1995 - 1998
• Chief Resident in Pediatrics, St. Louis Children's Hospital, 1998 - 1999
• Fellow, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Washington University, 2000 - 2003

Licensure and Board Certification

• MO, Physician and Surgeon , 1998
• American Board of Pediatrics , 1999
• ABP Sub-board of Pediatric Infectious Diseases , 2003
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program , 2008

Honors

• Dean's List, Carleton College, 1987 - 1991
• CRC Press Award, Carleton College, 1988
• Phi Beta Kappa Sophomore Award, Carleton College, 1989
• Barry M. Goldwater Foundation Scholarship, 1990 - 1991
• USA Today All-USA Academic Team, 1990 - 1991
• Virgil Loeb, MD, Distinguished Alumni Scholarship, Washington University, 1991 - 1995
• Finalist, American College of Physicians Award for Excellence in Physical Diagnosis, 1994
• Fellow, Pediatric Scientist Development Program, 2001 - 2004
• NIH Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program Award, 2002 - 2006
• Scholar, WU Child Health Research Center of Excellence, 2005 - 2008
• Wall of Honor, SOAR Program, Red Wing, MN, 2006
• Basil O'Connor Scholar Award, March of Dimes Foundation, 2009
• Residents' Lecture Award (x2), St. Louis Children's Hospital, 2010
• David Hunstad, MD, Distinguished Alumni Scholarship named by Washington University School of Medicine, 2015
• Fellow, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 2015
• Best Doctors, St. Louis Magazine, 2015 - 2016

Recent Publications view all (39)

Publication Co-Authors

Gregory A. Storch, M.D.

Keith A. Hruska, M.D.

Audrey R. Odom John, M.D., Ph.D.

Barbara B. Warner, M.D.

Andrew J. White, M.D.

Maleewan Kitcharoensakkul, M.D.

Anthony R. French, M.D., Ph.D.

Rachel C. Orscheln, M.D.

Alexis M. Elward, M.D., M.P.H.

Jane M. Garbutt, M.D.

David A. Rosen, M.D., Ph.D.

Stephanie A. Fritz, M.D., M.S.C.I.

Ian T. Lackey, BS

Kevin Baszis, M.D.

S. Celeste Morley, M.D., Ph.D.

Washington University has a long tradition of collaboration amongst colleagues.The faculty above have co-authored publications with David A. Hunstad, M.D.

1. Olson PD, Hruska KA, Hunstad DA. Androgens enhance male urinary tract infection severity in a new model. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2016;27(6):1625-34. PMCID:PMC4884108  PMID:26449605 
2. Loughman JA, Yarbrough ML, Tiemann KM, Hunstad DA. Local generation of kynurenines mediates inhibition of neutrophil chemotaxis by uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 2016;84(4):1176-83. PMCID:PMC4807489  PMID:26857571 
3. Rosen DA, Hilliard JK, Tiemann KM, Todd EM, Morley SC, Hunstad DA. Klebsiella pneumoniae FimK Promotes Virulence in Murine Pneumonia. J Infect Dis. 2016;213(4):649-58. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiv440  PMCID:PMC4721909  PMID:26347570 
4. Hannan TJ, Hunstad DA. A murine model for Escherichia coli urinary tract infection. Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1333:159-75. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-2854-5_14  PMCID:PMC4624421  PMID:26468108 
5. Wagers PO, Tiemann KM, Shelton KL, Kofron WG, Panzner MJ, Wooley KL, Youngs WJ, Hunstad DA. Imidazolium salts as small-molecule urinary bladder exfoliants in a murine model. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015;59(9):5494-5502. doi:10.1128/AAC.00881-15  PMCID:PMC4538537  PMID:26124168 
6. Wang JW, Hogan PG, Hunstad DA, Fritz SA. Vitamin D sufficiency and Staphylococcus aureus infection in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2015;34(5):544-5. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000000667  PMCID:PMC4400212  PMID:25860535 
7. Danka ES, Hunstad DA. Cathelicidin augments epithelial receptivity and pathogenesis in experimental Escherichia coli cystitis. J Infect Dis. 2015;211(7):1164-73. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiu577  PMCID:PMC4366604  PMID:25336727 
8. Lim YH, Tiemann KM, Heo GS, Wagers PO, Rezenom YH, Zhang S, Zhang F, Youngs WJ, Hunstad DA, Wooley KL. Preparation and in vitro antimicrobial activity of silver-bearing degradable polymeric nanoparticles of polyphosphoester-block-poly(L-lactide). ACS Nano. 2015;9(2):1995-2008. doi:10.1021/nn507046h  PMCID:PMC4455953  PMID:25621868 
9. Lau ME, Danka ES, Tiemann KM, Hunstad DA. Bacterial lysis liberates the neutrophil migration suppressor YbcL from the periplasm of uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 2014;82(12):4921-30. PMCID:PMC4249291  PMID:25183735 
10. Al-Zubeidi D, Burnham CA, Hogan PG, Collins R, Hunstad DA, Fritz SA. Molecular epidemiology of recurrent cutaneous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in children. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2014;3(3):261-264. doi:10.1093/jpids/pit046  PMCID:PMC4381745  PMID:25844165 
11. Kitcharoensakkul M, Schulz CG, Kassel R, Khanna G, Liang S, Ngwube A, Baszis KW, Hunstad DA, White AJ. Scurvy revealed by difficulty walking: three cases in young children. J Clin Rheumatol. 2014;20(4):224-8. doi:10.1097/RHU.0000000000000101  PMID:24847751 
12. Heble DE Jr, McPherson C, Nelson MP, Hunstad DA. Vancomycin trough concentrations in overweight or obese pediatric patients. Pharmacotherapy. 2013;33(12):1273-7. doi:10.1002/phar.1321  PMID:23798327 
13. Lau ME, Hunstad DA. Quantitative assessment of human neutrophil migration across a cultured bladder epithelium. J Vis Exp. 2013;81:e50919. doi:10.3791/50919  PMCID:PMC3934319  PMID:24300797 
14. El Feghaly RE, Hunstad DA. A newborn with hydrops, hydrocephalus and ophthalmologic abnormalities J Ped Infect Dis Soc. 2013;2:391-393. 
15. Fritz SA, Tiemann KM, Hogan PG, Epplin EK, Rodriguez M, Al-Zubeidi DN, Bubeck Wardenburg J, Hunstad DA. A serologic correlate of protective immunity against community-onset Staphylococcus aureus infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2013;56(11):1554-61. doi:10.1093/cid/cit123  PMCID:PMC3641868  PMID:23446627 
16. Lau ME, Loughman JA, Hunstad DA. YbcL of uropathogenic Escherichia coli suppresses transepithelial neutrophil migration. Infect Immun. 2012;80(12):4123-32. doi:10.1128/IAI.00801-12  PMCID:PMC3497442  PMID:22966043 
17. McPherson C, Warner B, Hunstad DA, Elward A, Acosta EP. Oseltamivir dosing in premature infants. J Infect Dis. 2012;206(6):847-50. doi:10.1093/infdis/jis471  PMID:22807525 
18. Loughman JA, Hunstad DA. Induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase by uropathogenic bacteria attenuates innate responses to epithelial infection. J Infect Dis. 2012;205(12):1830-9. doi:10.1093/infdis/jis280  PMCID:PMC3415894  PMID:22474038 
19. Lin LY, Tiemann KM, Li Y, Pinkner JS, Walker JN, Hultgren SJ, Hunstad DA, Wooley KL. Synthetic polymer nanoparticles conjugated with FimH(A) from E. coli pili to emulate the bacterial mode of epithelial internalization. J Am Chem Soc. 2012;134(9):3938-41. doi:10.1021/ja2091917  PMCID:PMC3325780  PMID:22360307 
20. Loughman JA, Hunstad DA. Attenuation of human neutrophil migration and function by uropathogenic bacteria. Microbes Infect. 2011;13(6):555-65. doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2011.01.017  PMCID:PMC3092803  PMID:21315174 
21. Zhang B, Watts KM, Hodge D, Kemp LM, Hunstad DA, Hicks LM, Odom AR. A second target of the antimalarial and antibacterial agent fosmidomycin revealed by cellular metabolic profiling. Biochemistry. 2011;50(17):3570-7. doi:10.1021/bi200113y  PMCID:PMC3082593  PMID:21438569 
22. Horvath DJ Jr, Li B, Casper T, Partida-Sanchez S, Hunstad DA, Hultgren SJ, Justice SS. Morphological plasticity promotes resistance to phagocyte killing of uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Microbes Infect. 2011;13(5):426-37. doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2010.12.004  PMCID:PMC3071881  PMID:21182979 
23. Fritz SA, Krauss MJ, Epplin EK, Burnham CA, Garbutt J, Dunne WM, Hunstad DA, Storch GA. The natural history of contemporary Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization in community children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2011;30(4):349-51. doi:10.1097/INF.0b013e3181fe075e  PMCID:PMC3077955  PMID:21412205 
24. Li Y, Hindi K, Watts KM, Taylor JB, Zhang K, Li Z, Hunstad DA, Cannon CL, Youngs WJ, Wooley KL. Shell crosslinked nanoparticles carrying silver antimicrobials as therapeutics. Chem Commun (Camb). 2010;46(1):121-3. doi:10.1039/b916559b  PMCID:PMC2978063  PMID:20024313 
25. Nicholson TF, Watts KM, Hunstad DA. OmpA of uropathogenic Escherichia coli promotes postinvasion pathogenesis of cystitis. Infect Immun. 2009;77(12):5245-51. doi:10.1128/IAI.00670-09  PMCID:PMC2786482  PMID:19797074 
26. Orscheln RC, Hunstad DA, Fritz SA, Loughman JA, Mitchell K, Storch EK, Gaudreault M, Sellenriek PL, Armstrong JR, Mardis ER, Storch GA. Contribution of genetically restricted, methicillin-susceptible strains to the ongoing epidemic of community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections. Clin Infect Dis. 2009;49(4):536-42. doi:10.1086/600881  PMCID:PMC2965061  PMID:19589082 
27. Loughman JA, Fritz SA, Storch GA, Hunstad DA. Virulence gene expression in human community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infection. J Infect Dis. 2009;199(3):294-301. doi:10.1086/595982  PMCID:PMC2843142  PMID:19115951 
28. Watts KM, Hunstad DA. Components of SurA required for outer membrane biogenesis in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. PLoS One. 2008;3(10):e3359. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003359  PMCID:PMC2556385  PMID:18836534 
29. Justice SS, Hunstad DA, Cegelski L, Hultgren SJ. Morphological plasticity as a bacterial survival strategy. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2008;6(2):162-8. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1820  PMID:18157153 
30. Miller AS, Hunstad DA. Salmonella ovarian abscess in an adolescent. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2007;26(6):548-9. doi:10.1097/INF.0b013e31804b21b2  PMID:17529879 
31. Hunstad DA, French AR. Histoplasmosis in a child with JRA on low-dose methotrexate. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2007;46(1):177-8. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kel375  PMID:17114804 
32. Justice SS, Hunstad DA, Seed PC, Hultgren SJ. Filamentation by Escherichia coli subverts innate defenses during urinary tract infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006;103(52):19884-9. doi:10.1073/pnas.0606329104  PMCID:PMC1750882  PMID:17172451 
33. Justice SS, Lauer SR, Hultgren SJ, Hunstad DA. Maturation of intracellular Escherichia coli communities requires SurA. Infect Immun. 2006;74(8):4793-800. doi:10.1128/IAI.00355-06  PMCID:PMC1539609  PMID:16861667 
34. Justice SS, Hunstad DA, Harper JR, Duguay AR, Pinkner JS, Bann J, Frieden C, Silhavy TJ, Hultgren SJ. Periplasmic peptidyl prolyl cis-trans isomerases are not essential for viability, but SurA is required for pilus biogenesis in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 2005;187(22):7680-6. doi:10.1128/JB.187.22.7680-7686.2005  PMCID:PMC1280321  PMID:16267292 
35. Hunstad DA, Justice SS, Hung CS, Lauer SR, Hultgren SJ. Suppression of bladder epithelial cytokine responses by uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 2005;73(7):3999-4006. doi:10.1128/IAI.73.7.3999-4006.2005  PMCID:PMC1168571  PMID:15972487 
36. Roberts JA, Kaack MB, Baskin G, Chapman MR, Hunstad DA, Pinkner JS, Hultgren SJ. Antibody responses and protection from pyelonephritis following vaccination with purified Escherichia coli PapDG protein. J Urol. 2004;171(4):1682-5. doi:10.1097/01.ju.0000116123.05160.43  PMCID:PMC2838480  PMID:15017266 
37. Schilling JD, Martin SM, Hunstad DA, Patel KP, Mulvey MA, Justice SS, Lorenz RG, Hultgren SJ. CD14- and Toll-like receptor-dependent activation of bladder epithelial cells by lipopolysaccharide and type 1 piliated Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 2003;71(3):1470-80. PMCID:PMC148872  PMID:12595465 
38. Hunstad DA, Cohen AH, St Geme JW 3rd. Successful eradication of mucormycosis occurring in a pulmonary allograft. J Heart Lung Transplant. 1999;18(8):801-4. PMID:10512529 
39. Mohrig JR, Rosenberg RE, Apostol JW, Bastienaansen M, Evans JW, Franklin SJ, Frisbie CD, Fu SS, Hamm ML, Hirose CB, Hunstad DA, James TL, King RW, Larson CJ, Latham HA, Owen DA, Stein KA, Warnet R. Diastereoselectivity of enolate anion protonation: H/D exchange of beta-substituted ethyl butanoates in ethanol-d. J Am Chem Soc. 1997;119:479-486.