Global Biothreats and Emerging Infectious Diseases
Emerging infectious diseases can be defined as infectious diseases that have newly appeared in a population or have previously existed but are rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range. Biodefense pathogens are those that pose a risk to national security and/or public health, as defined by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID’s) list of category A, B, or C priority pathogens.
Research related to these urgent health threats encompasses a broad spectrum of themes, including investigations of pathogenicity and host responses, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic technologies.
The following interdisciplinary faculty conduct research and instruct fellows in this area:
![Herve Agaisse](https://med.virginia.edu/infectious-diseases/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2024/03/hfa5y-100x132.jpeg)
Agaisse, Hervé
Genetic approaches, cellular and molecular biology of intracellular pathogen infection
![Daniel Engel](https://med.virginia.edu/infectious-diseases/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2023/09/dae2s.jpeg)
Engel, Daniel A.
Drug Discovery and Molecular Biology of Pathogenic RNA viruses: Ebola, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza and Zika
![Shannon Moonah](https://med.virginia.edu/infectious-diseases/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2023/01/sm5fe-100x150.png)
Moonah, Shannon N.
Host-pathogen interactions; molecular parasitology; mucosal inflammation; immunopathology and repair. Our research interests evolved from studying a parasite that causes inflammation of the gut, similar to IBD.
![Lukas Tamm](https://med.virginia.edu/infectious-diseases/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2024/03/lkt2e.jpeg)
Tamm, Lukas K.
Biomembrane Structure and Function; Cell Entry of Enveloped Viruses; Neurosecretion by Exocytosis; Structure of Bacterial Pathogen Membrane Proteins; Lipid-Protein Interactions
![Mami Taniuchi](https://med.virginia.edu/infectious-diseases/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2023/02/mt2f.jpeg)
Taniuchi, Mami
Molecular diagnostics; Polio eradication; tracking immunity and virus shedding after oral polio vaccination in resource-challenged countries.