Departmental Primary Faculty and their Research Programs
*Members of the Graduate Faculty are available as mentors to graduate students.
Host-mycoplasma interplay; Mechanisms of cytadherence; Invasion; Intracellular persistence; Molecular basis of virulence; Toxin-mediated cytopathology; Gene regulation
Cytokine and Toll-like receptor signaling; immunity to infection; Francisella tularensis; interleukin-4
Host antiviral defense mechanism: innate immune antiviral and inflammatory response against respiratory RNA viruses like human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A virus and parainfluenza viruses; virus based anti-cancer therapeutics.
*Subramanian Dhandayuthapani, Ph.D.
Molecular basis of host-pathogen interaction; stress signaling and regulation of gene expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycoplasma genitalium
Bacterial host-pathogen interaction in vivo; inflammation; cytokine response; Yersinia; asthma, inflammatory T-cell responses
Molecular genetics; bacterial sporulation; RNA polymerase biochemistry
Epstein-Barr virus transformation of B-lymphocyte growth; viral oncoprotein signal transduction; nuclear transactivation
Control of filamentous growth and virulence in the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans; identification and characterization of novel C. albicans virulence factors; transcriptional regulation; C. albicans genomics
Bacterial genetics; virulence mechanisms in periodontal pathogens; transcriptional regulation; function of microbial surface layer proteins
Immunobiology; Autoimmune disease; Two-way communication between the immune system and autoimmune target tissues; Immune and muscle responses in Myasthenia Gravis
Use of comparative genomics to identify differences between invasive and non-invasive clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae; Identification of novel virulence determinants and assessment of their vaccine potential
Medical mycology; molecular mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis, mating and development in Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans biofilms molecular biology, animal models of invasive aspergillosis
Poxvirus pathogenesis and immune modulation; virus-host interactions; protein structure-function
Molecular basis of Chlamydia-host interactions; Chlamydiae pneumoniae in atherosclerosis; Proteomics analysis of chlamydial hypothetical proteins; Vaccine development
Faculty with Primary Appointments in other Departments
Role of chemokine and chemokine receptors in immune system development, defense against chronic or infectious diseases, and HIV-1 pathogenesis
Development of human and veterinary vaccines against fungal diseases
Viral oncogenesis, herpesvirus latency and reactivation, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV8) pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology
Innate and adaptive immune responses to vaccines and viral infections; SIV pathogenesis and vaccine development
Public health microbiology; enteric bacteriology
*Anthony J. Infante, M.D., Ph.D.
Immunology; T cell receptor repertoires in health and disease; autoimmunity; immunodeficiency states
Clinical microbiology; mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and their detection in clinical isolates; new antimicrobial agents
Molecular mechanisms of Vibrio cholerae and Francisella tularensis pathogenesis; transcription regulation; biodefense and food-borne disease vaccine development
Molecular immunology; autoimmunity; bacterial pathogenesis
Molecular biology and pathogenesis hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus
Immunopathogenic mechanisms and protective immunity; in leishmaniasis
Molecular Biology of RNA viruses and development of Anthrax therapeutics
Immunobiology, immunology and pathogenesis of neurocysticercosis, immune response to Francisella tularensis