Combating Infectious Diseases
Who will identify the pandemic of the twenty-first century? Experts in infectious diseases and microbiology work to define, treat, and prevent the spread of disease throughout the world. Our programs focus on understanding the basic and epidemiologic mechanisms of microbial infection, and developing disease prevention, control, and treatment methods.
In the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, our focus is on training the next generation of researchers, scientists, and public health professionals to combat the world's most devastating and unrelenting infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis.
Ours is one of the few departments dedicated to the study of infectious diseases that is located at an accredited school of public health.
We seek to understand the pathogenesis of microbial infections at the cellular and molecular levels in order to develop methods for disease prevention and treatment. Our integrated teaching programs therefore educate and train graduate students in various molecular, immunologic, epidemiologic, and biologic aspects of microbial pathogenesis, as well as infectious disease control and prevention.
Graduates of our master’s-level programs are prepared to serve in basic and applied research laboratories and public health settings in academia, government, and industry, such as with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Examples of recent positions our master’s graduates have attained include a human services specialist with a state department of health, and a staff virologist with a major drug manufacturer. PhD graduates serve as faculty members and department chairs at major universities as well as research laboratory directors.
