Glen S Tamura, MD, PhD

Glen S Tamura, MD, PhD

Hospital Medicine, Infectious Disease and Virology

On staff since July 1990

Academic Title: Associate Professor

"Being in the hospital with your sick child is a great challenge - I strive to insure your child's care is the best possible, that you are informed and involved in decision-making, and that team members communicate seamlessly with each other and with you."

  • Glen S. Tamura, MD, PhD, is the director of the Inpatient Medical Service at Seattle Childrens Hospital and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Tamura received his MD and PhD from Stanford University, and trained in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Washington.

    His clinical interests are focused on general inpatient pediatric medicine and infectious diseases. He is the former assistant director of the pediatric infectious diseases fellowship program. He teaches clinical skills to second-year medical students and mentors approximately 40 students throughout their medical school careers. Tamuras research interests include quality improvement and patient-centered care.

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  • Award Name Award Description Awarded By Award Date
    Seattle Magazine Top Doctor - 2013 Seattle Magazine 2013
    Named one of "Seattle's Top Doctors" Seattle Magazine 2006
    Highest Honors University of California, Berkeley 1980
    Medical Scientist Training Program 1980
    Phi Beta Kappa 1980

  • Other Publications

    • Lion KC, Mangione-Smith R, Martyn M, Hencz P, Fernandez J, Tamura G
      Comprehension on family-centered rounds for limited English proficient families.
      23491584 Academic pediatrics, 2013 May : 13(3)236-42
    • Oelschlager AM, Smith S, Tamura G, Carline J, Dobie S
      Where do medical students turn? The role of the assigned mentor in the fabric of support during medical school.
      21516596 Teaching and learning in medicine, 2011 April : 23(2)112-7
    • Hull JR, Tamura GS, Castner DG
      Interactions of the streptococcal C5a peptidase with human fibronectin.
      18313373 Acta biomaterialia, 2008 May : 4(3)504-13 PMCID:PMC2409115
    • Hull JR, Tamura GS, Castner DG
      Interactions of the streptococcal C5a peptidase with human fibronectin.
      18313373 Acta biomaterialia, 2008 May : 504-13
    • Latta LC, Dick R, Parry C, Tamura GS
      Parental responses to involvement in rounds on a pediatric inpatient unit at a teaching hospital: a qualitative study.
      18316881 Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 2008 March : 83(3)292-7
    • Latta LC, Dick R, Parry C, Tamura GS
      Parental responses to involvement in rounds on a pediatric inpatient unit at a teaching hospital: a qualitative study.
      18316881 Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 2008 March : 292-7
    • Hull JR, Tamura GS, Castner DG
      Structure and reactivity of adsorbed fibronectin films on mica.
      17890402 Biophysical journal, 2007 Oct. 15 : 2852-60
    • Hull JR, Shannon JJ, Tamura GS, Castner DG
      Atomic force microscopy and surface plasmon resonance investigation of fibronectin interactions with group B streptococci.
      20408638 Biointerphases, 2007 June : 64-72
    • Tamura GS, Hull JR, Oberg MD, Castner DG
      High-affinity interaction between fibronectin and the group B streptococcal C5a peptidase is unaffected by a naturally occurring four-amino-acid deletion that eliminates peptidase activity.
      16988251 Infection and immunity, 2006 Oct. : 5739-46
    • Tamura GS, Bratt DS, Yim HH, Nittayajarn A
      Use of glnQ as a counterselectable marker for creation of allelic exchange mutations in group B streptococci.
      15640242 Applied and environmental microbiology, 2005 Jan. : 587-90
    • Beckmann C, Waggoner JD, Harris TO, Tamura GS, Rubens CE
      Identification of novel adhesins from Group B streptococci by use of phage display reveals that C5a peptidase mediates fibronectin binding.
      12010974 Infection and immunity, 2002 June : 2869-76
    • Tamura GS, Nittayajarn A, Schoentag DL
      A glutamine transport gene, glnQ, is required for fibronectin adherence and virulence of group B streptococci.
      12010975 Infection and immunity, 2002 June : 2877-85

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Overview

Board Certification(s)

Pediatrics
Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Medical/Professional School

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Residency

University of Washington School of Medicine GME, Seattle, WA

Research Description

Pathogenesis of Group B Streptococcal disease (GBS, Streptococcus agalactiae).

GBS are the leading cause of meningitis and sepsis in neonates in the United States and Western Europe. Dr. Tamura's laboratory studies the molecular pathogenesis of group B Streptococcal (GBS) infections. We are particularly interested in the bacterial adhesins and their cognate epithelial cell receptors that are involved in mucosal colonization.

We have successfully identified fibronectin and cytokeratin 8 as potential epithelial cell receptors. We have also identified two fibronectin adhesins, one definnitively (ScpB, the Streptococcal C5a peptidase) and one tentatively (GlnP, the glutamine permease).

Both of these proteins have other functions by which they were originally defined. We are in the process of defining the role of the different activities of these genes in bacterial adherence both in vitro and in vivo.

GBS have the unusual property of being able to bind specifically to immobilized fibronectin (iFn) and not to soluble fibronectin (sFn). The adhesin ScpB shares this property.

We are also in the process of defining the structural basis for this specificity using a variety of cutting edge biophysical techniques, including surface plasmon resonance and atomic force microscopy.

Research Focus Area

Host: Pathogen Interaction