Department of Microbiology & Immunology Faculty

Azad Ahmed, MD*
Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Carol Artlett, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Inflammasome signaling; IL-1 mediated fibrosis; collagen export from the endoplasmic reticulum; miR-155; small molecule therapeutic development
Siddharth Balachandran, PhD
Adjunct Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Joris Beld, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Chemical biology and microbiology of secondary metabolism in various organisms
James M. Burns Jr., PhD
Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Development of protective immunity against malaria induced by immunization with defined subunit vaccines targeting pre-erythrocytic stage, blood-stage and sexual stage parasites.
Mary Ann Comunale, EdD, MS
Associate Professor; Director, Center for Scientific Communications and Outreach
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Scientific: Proteomic and glycoproteomic analysis to identify early markers of disease, analytical and clinical assay development.
Educational: Innovative learning technologies including gamification and game based learning.
Will Dampier, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Exploring patterns of HIV genetic variation, its influences on disease progression and impacts on excision therapy
Garth D. Ehrlich, PhD, FAAAS, FAAM
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology; Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Department: Microbiology & Immunology, Otolaryngology
Research Interests: Use of large-scale comparative genomic technologies to explore the molecular pathogenesis of chronic infectious diseases and the human genetics of susceptibility and resistance to infection.
Donald C. Hall Jr., PhD
Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Computational drug design and structural bioinformatics; preclinical drug development; bacterial multi-drug tolerance and persister cells; stringent response mechanisms; non-thermal plasma (NTP) as an antimicrobial strategy; molecular diagnostics; novel antimicrobial materials
Jennifer Hope, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Immune responses to cancer, chronic virus infection; T cell differentiation; T cell development
Richard Huneke, DVM
Professor Emeritus; Executive Director, ULAR
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Katherine Innamorati, PhD
Instructor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Pooja Jain, PhD, MS
Professor; Co-Director, Master of Science in Immunology Program
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Retrovirus (HIV/HTLV)-associated cancer and neuroinflammation, myeloid/dendritic cell-based immunotherapy, extracellular vesicles
Stephen Jennings, PhD
Professor; Co-Director, Master of Science in Immunology Program
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Optimal protection from HSV-1 infection provided by interactions between innate and acquired immune responses.
Hangjun Ke, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: pH regulation of the cytosol and other subcellular compartments; bioenergetics of malaria parasites; mitochondrial dynamics, morphology and function
Zafar Khan, PhD
Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Transgenic and humanized mouse modeling of neuroinflammation; target-based high-throughput screening (HTS) and pre-clinical studies on development of novel antiviral molecules with focus on mechanism(s) of action; INDO-US collaborative program under the Center for International Translational Medicine of the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease (IMMID)
Sandhya Kortagere, PhD
Professor; Vice Dean of Research and Innovation
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Biased signaling of dopamine D3 receptor agonists; developing symptomatic and disease-modifying therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease; etiology of mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease; role of dopamine receptors in neurocognitive impairment in HIV and other neuronal infections
Fred Krebs, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Plasma medicine (biomedical applications of non-thermal plasma), with an emphasis on developing preventative and immunotherapeutic approaches to combat human viral pathogens.
Kirsten Larson, PhD
Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Development of educational activities, flipped classroom experiences and peer evaluation
Eugenia Lo, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Molecular epidemiology, parasite genomics and evolution, host-parasite interactions, global health
Julio Martin-Garcia, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Macrophage tropism and neurotropism of HIV-1; cellular senescence during HIV-1 infection and HIV-1 neuropathogenesis; innate immune responses to HIV-1 infection in macrophages, microglia and dendritic cells; microRNAs and HIV-1
Michael Mather, PhD
Research Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Physiology of malaria parasites, especially mitochondrial functions and energy metabolism
Joshua Chang Mell, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Using genomics to investigate the mechanism, consequences and evolution of genetic recombination, especially in pathogenic bacteria.
Vandana Miller, MD*
Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Joanne Morrisey
Research Instructor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Elise Mosser, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Innovative biomedical graduate education, with a specific focus on online course design and course development
Sonia Navas-Martin, PhD
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Innate immunity, toll-like receptors, neuroimmunology, neuroinflammation, neurodegenerative diseases, blood brain barrier, microglia, astrocytes, neurons, macrophages, viral encephlalitis, demyelination, molecular pathogenesis of neurotropic RNA viruses, cellular senesce, microRNAs, animal models, therapeutic targets
Michael Nonnemacher, PhD
Director, Division of Biomedical Sciences; Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: HIV-1 genetic variation in disease progression; role of viral accessory proteins in pathogenesis; gene-editing strategies for HIV cure research; HIV/HBV coinfection in cancer; impact of HIV-1 and drugs of abuse on the CNS
Pamela Norton, PhD
Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Characterization of glycoproteomic biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma, induction of novel immune responses by agents that alter N-glycan processing
Amy Cernetich Ott, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Development and testing of multi-stage, multi-antigen vaccines targeting Plasmodium parasites.
Shendra Passic, MS
Research Instructor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Variation in HIV-1 genetic and immune markers during disease progression; HIV-1 drug development and microbicides
Vanessa Pirrone, PhD
Associate Professor; Assistant Dean of Admissions
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Impact of HIV infection on colorectal cancer, and the role of the HIV-1 Nef protein; impact of age and HIV/HCV coinfection on HIV-1 replication, pathogenesis and immune activation profiles
Anurag Shukla, PhD
Research Instructor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Akhil Vaidya, PhD
Professor; Director, Center for Molecular Parasitology
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Understanding basic molecular functioning of malaria parasites with a view to developing new antimalarial drugs.
Brian Wigdahl, PhD
Professor and Chair; Director, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Immunopathogenesis and neuropathogenesis of HIV-1 and HTLV-I infection; transcriptional regulation of retroviral expression; viral sequence diversity and correlations to disease; development of microbicidal agents

Allegheny General Hospital
Institute for Cellular Therapeutics

Rita Bottino, PhD

Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology

Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, and Microbiology & Immunology; Director, Respiratory Papillomatosis Program, Center for Genomic Sciences, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Human papillomavirus (HPV), condylomata, benign neoplasm of the larynx, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP)

Yong Fan, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology

Nick Giannoukakis, PhD

Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology

Massimo Trucco, PhD

Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology

Fox Chase Cancer Center

Glenn Rall, PhD

Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Pathogenesis of neurotropic viral infections (secondary appointment)

Joint/Secondary Faculty

Alison Carey, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Departments: Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology

Elias Haddad, PhD

Professor of Medicine
Departments: Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology

Neal Goldstein, PhD

Research Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology

Michele Kutzler, PhD

Assistant Dean for Faculty Development; Associate Professor of Medicine
Departments: Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Translational research in the area of vaccinology, immunology and infectious disease

Olimpia Meucci, MD, PhD

Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology
Departments: Pharmacology & Physiology and Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Identification of targets for novel therapeutic approaches against neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory disorders; development of neuroprotective drugs

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute

Tim Block, PhD

Adjunct Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of viral persistence and development of therapeutic strategies for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Jinhong Chang, PhD

Adjunct Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: The study of microRNA on virus replication and development of small molecule antivirals and innate immune modulators

Ju-Tao Guo, PhD

Adjunct Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of HBV replication and regulation, innate immunity against virus infection, and discovery of antiviral and host innate immune modulatory agents

Ying-Hsiu Su, PhD

Adjunct Associate Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Understanding interactions between herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and neurons during viral latency and reactivation; using nucleic acids in urine as diagnostic markers of cancer

Emeritus Faculty

Lawrence Bergman, PhD

Professor Emeritus
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Malaria, invasion, global gene expression, merozoite, sporozoite, actin-myosin, microarray, Plasmodium

Elizabeth Blankenhorn, PhD

Professor Emeritus
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Genetic foundations for inherited susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, including diabetes, scleroderma and multiple sclerosis; impact of genetics on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Richard Rest, PhD

Professor Emeritus
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis and Bacillus anthracis

* Physician's practice is independent of Drexel Medicine and Drexel University.