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Microbiology & Immunology (MI) Faculty

  • Seena Ajit, PhD

    Professor
    Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
     Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of neuropathic and inflammatory pain, epigenetic regulation, microRNA expression and regulation, biomarkers

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Alison J. Carey, MD*

    Associate Professor
    Department: Microbiology & Immunology, Pediatrics
     Research Interests: Mechanisms of age-specific host-pathogen responses, respiratory viral infections, infant immune system development, type I interferon response

  • Irwin Chaiken, PhD

    Professor
    Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
     Research Interests: Protein interactions in health and disease, structure-based antagonism of HIV-1 Env, recombinant protein/peptidomimetic/small molecule inhibitor design and mechanism of action

  • 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.

  • Joshua Earl, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    Department: Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Statistical comparative analysis of whole bacterial genomes, including gene content/variation and homologous gene transfer, specifically in Moraxella catarrhalis and other naso-pharyngeal pathogens; comparative ecological analysis of human microbial communities and their role in pathogenesis; statistical computing using parallel environments and application development.

  • 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.

  • Elias El Haddad, PhD

    Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology; MD/PhD Program Director
    Department: Medicine: Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Human immunology, systems biology, infectious disease pathogenesis and vaccinology

  • Peter Gaskill, PhD

    Associate Professor
    Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
     Research Interests: HIV, drug abuse, neuroimmunity, neurotransmission, macrophage immunology, dopamine, serotonin, catecholamines

  • Jennifer Hope, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    Department: Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Immune responses to cancer, chronic virus infection; T cell differentiation; T cell development

  • Pooja Jain, PhD, MS

    Professor; Co-Director, Master of Science in Immunology Program
    Department: Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Retrovirus-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

  • Zachary Klase, PhD

    Associate Professor
    Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
     Research Interests: Molecular neuropathogenesis of HIV-1, epigenetic control of transcription and microRNA involvement in viral diseases

  • Sandhya Kortagere, PhD

    Professor
    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.

  • Michele Kutzler, PhD

    Associate Dean for Faculty; Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology
    Department: Medicine: Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Translational research in the area of vaccinology, immunology and infectious disease

  • Eugenia Lo, PhD

    Associate Professor
    Department: Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Molecular epidemiology, parasite genomics and evolution, host-parasite interactions, global health

  • Patrick Loll, PhD

    Professor
    Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
     Research Interests: X-ray crystallography and protein biophysics; integral membrane protein structure; antibiotic resistance; mechanism of drug action; protein homeostasis

  • Amy T. Ma, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    Department: Microbiology & Immunology
     Research Interests: Bacteriology, microbial interactions, gut microbiome, vitamin cross-feeding and biosynthesis

  • 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.

  • Olimpia Meucci, MD, PhD

    Professor & Chair
    Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
     Research Interests: HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and drug abuse, chemokine-based therapeutics, neuroprotective pathways in neuroinflammation

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

 
Secondary Faculty
 

Bradford Jameson, PhD

Richard Rest, PhD

 
Affiliate Faculty
 

Siddharth Balachandran, PhD
Fox Chase Cancer Center

Tim Block, PhD
Baruch S. Blumberg Institute

Ju-Tao Guo, PhD
Baruch S. Blumberg Institute

Alexander Muller, PhD
Lankenau Institute for Medical Research

Glen Rall, PhD
Fox Chase Cancer Center

Ying-Hsiu Su, PhD
Baruch S. Blumberg Institute

 
Emeritus Faculty
 

Jane Azizkhan-Clifford, PhD
Professor Emeritus; Associate Dean for Medical Student Research
Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Research Interests: Cellular response to DNA damage, regulation of gene expression, cellular proliferation and the cell cycle

Lawrence W. 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

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

 

Please note, Drs. Bergman, Blankenhorn, Morrisey, Mosser, Norton, Passic and Rest do not have active labs and are not taking students at this time.

Alison Carey and Ogan Kumova (Carey Lab) from the Microbiology and Immunology Program at Drexel University College of Medicine.