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Faculty Bio

Phillip I. Tarr, M.D.

Melvin E. Carnahan Professor of Pediatrics
Co-Leader, Pathobiology Research Unit
Director, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Pathobiology Research Unit

Dr. Phillip Tarr is currently the Melvin E. Carnahan Professor of Pediatrics, and Director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine and co-directs the Pediatrics Pathobiology Research Unit, and is a Professor of Molecular Microbiology. He obtained his MD degree from Yale University School of Medicine in 1980, and completed clinical training in pediatrics, pediatric gastroenterology and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital, where he remained on the faculty until 2003 when he assumed his present position. 

Dr. Tarr has had an abiding interest in many different aspects of enteric infections, with a focus on pediatrics. His chief contributions have been in the field of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, especially E. coli O157:H7. His work has helped delineate the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and medical management of illnesses caused by this pathogen. He has long advocated the role of accurate and thorough enteric diagnostics as a mainstay of clinical care.

 
Education
  • A.B., Brown University, 1975
  • M.D., Yale University, 1980
Training
  • Pediatric Residency, University of Washington, Seattle, Wa., 1980-83
  • Assistant Chief Resident, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine/Children's Orthopedic Hospital and Medical Center, Seattle, Wa., 1982-83
  • Infectious Diseases Fellowship, University of Washington, Seattle, Wa., 1983-87
  • Senior Fellow, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Wa., 1983-86
  • Research Associate, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle, Wa., 1986-87
  • Gastroenterology Fellowship, University of Washington, Seattle, Wa., 1988-89
Licensure and Board Certification
  • Washington License, 1981
  • Missouri License, 2003
  • American Board of Pediatrics, 1984
  • Pediatric Gastroenterology, 1993
  • Pediatric Gastroenterology (Re-certification), 2006
Selected Publications

  • Wong CS, Mooney JC, JR Brandt, Staples AO, Jelacic S, Boster DR, Watkins SL, Tarr PI. Antibiotics and the Risk of the Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome in Children Infected with Escherichia coli O157:H7. Clin Infect  Dis.  2012; 55(1):33-41. PMID:2243179,  PMCID:PMC3493180

  • Denno DM, Shaikh N, Stapp J, Qin X, Hutter CM, Hoffman V, Mooney JC, Wood KM, Stevens HJ, Jones R, Klein EJ, Tarr PI. Diarrhea Etiology in a Pediatric Emergency Department: a Case Control Study. Clin Infect Dis. 2012. 55(7):897-904. PMID:22700832

  • Petruzziello-Pellegrini TN, Yuen DA, Page AV, Patel S, Soltyk AM, Matouk CC Wong DK, Turgeon PJ, Fish JE, Ho JJ, Steer BM, Khajoee V, Tigdi J, Lee WL, Motto DG, Advani A, Gilbert RE, Karumanchi SA, Robinson LA, Tarr PI, Liles WC, Brunton JL, Marsden PA. The CXCR4/CXCR7/SDF-1 pathway contributes to the pathogenesis of Shiga toxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome in humans and mice. J Clin Invest. 2012 Feb 1;122(2):759-76. doi: 10.1172/JCI57313. Epub 2012 Jan 9. PubMed PMID: 22232208; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3266777.

  • Hickey CA, Beattie TJ, Cowieson J, Miyashita Y, Strife CF, Frem JC, Peterson JM, Butani L, Jones DP, Havens PL, Patel HP, Wong CS, Andreoli SP, Rothbaum RJ, Beck AM, Tarr PI. Early volume expansion during diarrhea and relative nephroprotection during subsequent hemolytic uremic syndrome. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011 Oct;165(10):884-9. Epub 2011 Jul 22. PubMed PMID: 21784993.
  • Leopold SR, Sawyer SA, Whittam TS, Tarr PI. Obscured phylogeny and possible recombinational dormancy in Escherichia coli. BMC Evol Biol. 2011 Jun 27;11:183. PubMed PMID: 21708031; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3152902.
  • Bucher BT, McDuffie LA, Shaikh N, Tarr PI, Warner BB, Hamvas A, White FV, Erwin CR, Warner BW. Bacterial DNA content in the intestinal wall from infants with necrotizing enterocolitis. J Pediatr Surg. 2011 Jun;46(6):1029-33. PubMed PMID: 21683193; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3118995.
  • Bennett WE Jr, González-Rivera R, Puente BN, Shaikh N, Stevens HJ, Mooney JC, Klein EJ, Denno DM, Draghi A II, Sylvester FA, Tarr PI. Proinflammatory fecal mRNA and childhood bacterial enteric infections. Gut Microbes. 2010 Jul;1(4):209-212. Epub 2010 Jul 13. PubMed PMID: 21327027; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3023602.
     
  • Leopold SR, Shaikh N, Tarr PI. Further evidence of constrained radiation in the evolution of pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7. Infect Genet Evol. 2010 Dec;10(8):1282-5. Epub 2010 Aug 5. PubMed PMID: 20691811.
     
  • Leopold SR, Magrini V, Holt NJ, Shaikh N, Mardis ER, Cagno J, Ogura Y, Iguchi A, Hayashi T, Mellmann A, Karch H, Besser TE, Sawyer SA, Whittam TS, Tarr PI. A precise reconstruction of the emergence and constrained radiations of Escherichia coli O157 portrayed by backbone concatenomic analysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26;106(21):8713-8. Epub 2009 May 13. PubMed PMID: 19439656; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2689004.
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