 Work in Seattle, and subsequently in Cambridge, led to the discovery of the molecular and cellular details of mycobacterial and host interactions at each step of infection.This yielded fundamental insights that suggest entirely new approaches to treat tuberculosis.Ramakrishnan and her research group showed that two lipids (a type of fatty molecule) on the surface of the mycobacteria work together to enable the bacteria to initially avoid the macrophages that would kill them and instead enter macrophages that provide them a niche for growth.