Microbiology & Immunology

Welcome to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology

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The Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has undergone an extensive reorientation since 1990, resulting in the recruitment of eighteen faculty members holding primary appointments and twenty one with joint appointments. A significant number of research fronts were added to fortify the department's program, which now includes molecular and cellular immunology, molecular genetics and immunogenetics, cellular microbiology of pathogen-host interaction, virology and biotechnology.

Recent discoveries and inventions by faculty members include:

1161 21st Avenue South
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Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2363
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Department Chair: Jacek Hawiger, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of Medical Education: Luc Van Kaer, Ph.D.
Director of Graduate Studies: Chris Aiken, Ph.D.
Director of Postgraduate Studies: Dean Ballard, Ph.D.

A new gene knock-out technology producing, to date, the disruption of 979 mammalian genes
Establishment of tumor suppressor p53 as a key to the killing of tumor cells by x-rays and chemotherapy
Invention of a new method to deliver biologically active peptides and proteins into cells
Development of a new class of HIV inhibitors
Development of Intracellular Protein Therapy (IPT)
Discovery of a new iron transport system in Staphylococcus aureus

The departmental faculty have developed training grants focused on cellular and molecular microbiology, viruses, genes, cancer, molecular pathogenesis of microbial diseases, and immunobiology, among others. Presently, we have four active training programs within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. They are (click on each program for further information):

The number of graduate students has increased dramatically from eight to forty-one, including eight M.D./Ph.D. students. Together with the recent recruitment of new faculty in microbial pathogenesis and steady increases in individually funded postdoctoral fellows, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology is very well-poised to grow during this new century of postgenomic discoveries!