Molecular Microbiology Graduate Program

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OverviewThe graduate program in Molecular Microbiology emphasizes an integrated approach to the study of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. The major emphasis areas are microbial pathogenesis: analysis of virulence factors, bacterial toxins, lipopolysaccharides, and outer membrane proteins, interactions of pathogens and their products with eukaryotic host cells (cellular microbiology), antigenic variation, contemporary vaccine strategies, bacterial gene regulation (osmoregulation, quorum sensing), bacterial export and secretion, and genetic regulation of bacterial virulence expression; virology: human immunodeficiency virus, West Nile virus, polio virus, Dengue virus, hepatitis C virus, resistance to viral infections, viral replication and persistence, viral vaccines, eukaryotic gene regulation, signal transduction pathways, and cellular and molecular mechanisms of human oncogenesis; cellular and molecular immunology: functions of natural killer cells, antigen processing and presentation, functions of T cell subsets, mechanisms of immune cell activation by microbial modulins, immunotoxins, immunoprivileged sites, mechanisms of inflammation, dendritic cells, tumor immunology, and generation of antibody diversity. The overall objective is to provide a rich environment of multidisciplinary training in research strategies and technology that will prepare the graduate for a career as an independent investigator in both the basic and applied biomedical sciences.

Students enter the Program after successful completion of the DBS Core Course and selection of a research mentor. Initiation of the student's dissertation research then commences. The faculty offer advanced courses in the areas of medical microbiology and infectious diseases (including immunology), molecular basis of microbial pathogenesis, microbial genetics, virology, viruses in human cancer, cell and molecular immunology, and genetic manipulation of the immune system. Participation in selected journal clubs, seminars, and electives offered within the Program and other Programs of the Division of Basic Science provide an array of additional educational opportunities. The program is supported, in part, by an NIH training grant and an S. Edward Sulkin endowment that awards up to $1,000 annually to a highly deserving graduate student in the Program.

For more information on the Molecular Microbiology Graduate Program please contact Stephanie Mode, Program Assistant, or refer to the Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Catalog.

Faculty

Program Chair: Vanessa Sperandio
Vice Chair: Eric J. Hansen

Neal Alto -- The intersection between human signal-transduction and bacterial pathogenesis; use of biochemical and cell biological analysis to define molecular mechanisms of microbial infectious disease.

Michael Bennett -- Bone-marrow transplantation; graft-versus-host reactions; NK cell receptors.

Paul Blount -- Bacterial mechanosensitive channels and their role in allowing the cell to adapt to different osmotic environments.

Cheng-Ming Chiang -- Transcriptional regulation in human papillomavirus and other small
DNA tumor viruses; epigenetic control of viral minichromosomes; modulation of protein function by posttranslational modification.

Nicholas Conrad - RNA transcription, processing and decay in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and its human host cells.

Pinghui Feng - Host recognition and virus escape; gamma herpesvirus infection under immunosuppression; pathogenesis of human Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

Beatriz Fontoura - Role of Nuclear Transport Factors in Interphase and Mitosis: from viral pathogenesis to cell division

J. Victor Garcia-Martinez -- Lentivirus-based vectors for human gene therapy; role of Nef in HIV pathogenesis; human herpes virus 8 in Kaposi’s sarcoma; xenograft models of human hematopoiesis.

Marie Alda Gilles-Gonzalez -- Heme proteins that serve as oxygen sensors in M. tuberculosis, E. coli, and Rhizobia: characterization of signal-transduction mechanisms of these sensors and their roles in host-microbial interactions.

Eric J. Hansen -- Molecular basis of microbial pathogenesis; use of genetic analysis to identify bacterial virulence factor.

David Hendrixson -- Identification and genetic regulation of bacterial virulence and colonization factors; development of bacterial-host relationships.

Lora Hooper -- Host-microbial interactions; commensal bacteria; mucosal immunity.

Nitin J. Karandikar -- Characterization of autoimmune T cell responses in MS; memory and effector CTL responses to virus infections; role of T cells in the immunodulation of MS.

Beth Levine -- Host-pathogen interactions; autophagy in innate immunity against intracellular pathogens; autophagy in cell death regulation and cancer biology.

Mark Mummert -- Skin biology; immunology.

Robert S. Munford -- Interactions of purified and natural gram-negative lipopolysaccharides (LPS, endotoxins) with animal cells; host mechanisms for detoxifying LPS; physiologically -esponsive gene therapy for inflammatory diseases.

Jerry Y. Niederkorn -- Immunology of parasitic diseases; immune privilege of the anterior chamber of the eye; immune surveillance of intraocular tumors; immune modulation of cancer metastases.

Michael V. Norgard -- Molecular biology and immunology of syphilis and Lyme disease.

Julie Pfeiffer -- Hepatitis C virus; poliovirus; yellow fever virus; virus-host interactions and pathogenesis

Octavio Ramilo -- Pathogenesis of viral infections and host response.

Vanessa Sperandio -- Pathogenesis of E. coli O157:H7; bacterial virulence gene regulation by quorum sensing.

Nancy E. Street -- Activation and differentiation of murine T-helper cell; the role of T-helper cells in tumor dormancy and infectious disease.

Iwona Stroynowski -- Structure-function of major histocompatibility antigens.

Gurol Suel --

Jonathan W. Uhr -- Antibody-induced signaling for apoptosis; cancer dormancy.

Nicolai S. C. van Oers -- Regulation of antigen receptor signal-transduction systems.

Ellen S. Vitetta -- Therapy of B-cell tumors; immunotoxins in cancer and AIDS; tumor dormancy; AIDS latency.

Wade Winkler -- Mechanisms of posttranscriptional genetic control in bacteria; biological roles of non-coding RNAs; RNA structure and function.

Felix Yarovinsky -- Toll-like receptor signaling, dendritic cells, and host-pathogen interactions

Dorothy C. Yuan -- Molecular analysis of regulation of immunoglobulin synthesis and B-NK cell interactions.