Overview

The Graduate Group in Infectious Diseases and Immunity provides opportunities for the study of the biology of infectious agents, their interaction with human and other hosts, and their relationship with the environment. The program is unique in its emphasis on integrated multidisciplinary training in host-pathogen environmental interactions. Important areas of inquiry include the biology of host-pathogen interactions; molecular and cellular aspects of pathogenesis; the ecology and evolution of disease agents; environmental factors in transmission; intermediate hosts and vectors; the biology of surveillance and epidemiological analysis; vaccine and drug development; and public health practices for disease prevention and control.

The objective of this program is to provide students with research-oriented pursuits that will train them to design and implement independent investigations. The goal is to promote health by integration of basic research and applied technologies for the development of new approaches for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of infectious disease in humans.

Students matriculating through this program will acquire expertise in fundamental infectious disease research and thus are well prepared for careers in academia, governmental agencies, and biotechnology. For admission requirements and application process, visit both the IDI website and School of Public Health website for details. Application deadline: December 1st for the following year Fall semester admission.

Undergraduate Program

There is no undergraduate program in Infectious Diseases and Immunity.

Graduate Program

Infectious Diseases and Immunity: PhD

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Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

Gregory M. Barton, Associate Professor. Immunology, cell biology, infectious disease, innate immunity.
Research Profile

Steven Brenner, Professor. Molecular biology, computational biology, evolutionary biology, bioengineering, structural genomics, computational genomics, cellular activity, cellular functions, personal genomics.
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Laurent Coscoy, Associate Professor. Immunology, viruses, viral infection, immune responses, immune evasion.
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Jeffrey Cox, Professor. C H Li Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Endocrinology, Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis.
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Michel DuPage, Assistant Professor. Immunology & Patheogenesis.
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Suzanne Fleiszig, Professor. Immunology, eye, microbiology, infectious disease, corneal physiology, tear film physiology, bacterial pathogenesis, contact lenses, pseudomonas aeruginosa, epithelial cell biology, innate immunity.
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Wayne Marcus Getz, Professor. Africa, disease ecology, wildlife conservation, resource management.
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Britt Glaunsinger, Associate Professor. Virology, gene expression, herpesvirus.
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Karsten Gronert, Professor. Inflammatory diseases, innate immune responses, lipid mediators, lipidomics, leukocytes, inflammatory resolution, eicosanoids, fish oils, omega-3 PUFA, Dry Eye, Keratitis, wound healing, lipxoygenase, cycloooxygenase, resolution pharmacology.
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Eva Harris, Professor. Public health, infectious diseases.
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Amy Herr, Associate Professor. Microfluidics, bioanalytical separations, diagnostics, electrokinetic transport, engineering design.
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Luke Lee, Professor. Biophotonics, biophysics, bionanoscience, molecular imaging, single cell analysis, bio-nano interfaces, integrated microfluidic devices (iMD) for diagnostics and preventive personalized medicine.
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Fenyong Liu, Professor. Public health, infectious diseases.
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Sangwei Lu, Adjunct Professor. Pathogenesis and Transmission of Salmonella, Foodborne Pathogens, Foodborne Diseases-Detection and Prevention.
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Kara L. Nelson, Professor. Water and wastewater treatment, water reuse, detection and inactivation of pathogens in water and sludge, appropriate technologies.
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Daniel A. Portnoy, Professor. Mammalian cells, molecular and cellular basis of microbial pathogenesis, defense against infection, listeria monocytogenes, cell biology of infection, mechanisms of secretion.
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Arthur L. Reingold, Professor. Public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, biostatistics.
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Lee Riley, Professor. Public health, infectious diseases, molecular epidemiology, global health, tuberculosis, drug-resistant infections, slum health.
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Ellen Robey, Professor. Fate determination in the T-lymphocyte lineage, T cell development in the mouse, thymic development, cellular maturation, parasitic infection, chronic infection, host-pathogen interactions, Toxoplasma gondii.
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Kimberly Seed, Assistant Professor.
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+ Nilabh Shastri, Professor. Cancer cells, mechanims of immunesurveillance, microbial pathogens, antigen genes, autoimmunity.
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Kimmen Sjolander, Professor. Computational biology, algorithms, phylogenetic tree reconstruction, protein structure prediction, multiple sequence alignment, evolution, bioinformatics, hidden Markov models, metagenomics, statistical modeling, phylogenomics, emerging and neglected diseases, machine-learning, genome annotation, metagenome annotation, systems biology, functional site prediction, ortholog identification.
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Sarah Stanley, Assistant Professor.

Russell E. Vance, Associate Professor. Immunology, microbiology, infectious disease, molecular and cell biology.
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Matthew D. Welch, Professor. Biology, cell motility, the role of the actin cytoskeleton in cell locomotion, shape change, actin filament assembly, bacterial and viral pathogens.
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Matthew Welch, Professor and Principal Investigator. Cell and Developmental Biology.
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Qiang Zhou, Professor. Biochemistry of HIV gene expression, transcriptional elongation, Tat activation, stage of transcriptional elongation, HIV replication, anti-HIV therapy.
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