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Molecular Medicine (MMED) Research Opportunities

As a requirement for completion of the Master of Science in Molecular Medicine program, students will complete laboratory-based or other forms of research activity in the broad field of molecular medicine. Projects typically will focus on basic, translational or clinical biomedical research.

Recent student projects have involved assay development for drug detection, cancer immunotherapy, characterization of DNA modification in pathogenic bacteria and early stage assay development for drug discovery. Research projects are also under way to apply new gene excision therapies to cure viral infections and other human diseases. Students will also gain experience with analyzing data that they help to generate or discovered from the literature, as well as presenting that information in written and oral formats. Internship hosts will be selected on the basis of their research, as well as student interests and future career goals.

While emphasis will be placed on laboratories within Drexel University, internships may also be completed at other academic institutions or at company sites outside of Drexel University with programs in the area of molecular medicine and related disciplines. A list of Drexel program faculty with specific research interests is provided below.

More information about faculty research interests can be found at Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease Members. Please note that internship opportunities are not limited to these research groups.

  • 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

  • Lawrence Bergman, PhD

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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
    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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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