Joerg Overhage is an internationally recognized expert in molecular microbiology who investigates bacterial stress responses, biofilm formation, and host-pathogen interactions in chronic lung infections and chronic wounds. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences. His research group uses a combination of functional genomics, metabolomics, biochemical, and microbiology techniques to study antimicrobial resistance and chronic biofilm infections. He studied microbiology at the University of Muenster (Germany) and undertook post-doctoral research at Massey University (New Zealand), UBC (Vancouver), and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Germany). 

In 2010, he started his research group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany), relocating to Carleton University in 2017. His research team investigates antimicrobial resistance to reactive chlorine species, studying the molecular mechanisms of how bacteria detect antimicrobials and how they become resistant to commonly used antibiotics and disinfectants. They also study how interactions between different microbes and cells of the human immune system (macrophages) contribute to chronic wound infections, delayed wound healing, and antimicrobial resistance.