Faculty Research Interests
The Research Program of the Faculty as a whole is not narrowly focused in one area of Infectious Diseases, but spans many of the modern issues of basic, translational and clinical research. The major strength of the Program is the uniquely interdisciplinary training environment provided by the close interactions, collaborations and cooperation of the Faculty.
Faculty Research interests can be sub-categorized into themes, including Global Health/Parasitology, Immune Response to Infections, Microbial Pathogenesis, Virology/HIV, and Host Genetics/Epidemiology. The division into themes is of course to some extent artificial, and faculty interactions and collaborations are not restricted to other investigators within that theme. This is perhaps best appreciated by the fact that many faculty have research interests encompassing multiple themes.
Global Health/Parasitology
Focus: infectious diseases of importance in the developing world, with active long-standing research collaborations in Bangladesh, Brazil, Haiti, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Tanzania
Mentors: Drs. Dillingham, Guerrant, Houpt, Moore, Pearson, Petri, and Scheld
Immune Response to Infections
Focus: mucosal immunology, immunopathogenesis of infections, and T cell activation
Mentors: Drs. Braciale, Engelhard, Fu, Hammarskjold, Houpt, Petri, and Ravichandran
Microbial Pathogenesis
Focus: toxins of respiratory and enteropathogens and microbial pathogen cell surface and transport
Mentors: Drs. Goldberg, Hewlett, Hoffman, Hughes, Mann, Ramakrishnan, Scheld, and Sifri
Virology/HIV
Focus: respiratory viral infections and viral modulation of the immune system
Mentors: Drs. Hammarskjold, Hayden, Kedes, Rekosh, and Yuan
Host Genetics/Epidemiology
Focus: infections in the hospital and the developing world
Faculty: Drs. Concannon, Guerrant, Knaus, Petri, Sifri, Rich, and Warren
The training mentors have been chosen based on three criteria:
- They are proven investigators with independently funded research programs.
- They are committed to research training and are active and successful preceptors of trainees.
- Their research focus fits within the programmatic theme of infectious diseases research.
These criteria result in the majority of the preceptors being established senior investigators with an extensive track record of training.