Dr. Lora Hooper, Chair of Immunology, has been selected for a prestigious award from the American Society for Microbiology. The ASM Award in Basic Research recognizes an outstanding scientist whose discoveries have been fundamental to advancing our understanding of the microbial world.

Dr. Hooper is well known for her research on the commensal or “good” bacteria that inhabit the gut – where they aid in digestion and infection control. She is corresponding author of a study published earlier this year in Cell Host & Microbe that identified a previously unknown bacteria-killing protein on the skin that requires vitamin A to work. Those experiments, done on human tissue and mice, suggest why vitamin A derivatives are effective treatments for skin diseases, she said.

Dr. Hooper is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, a member of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, and a Professor of Immunology and Microbiology. She holds the Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Immunology and is a Nancy Cain and Jeffrey A. Marcus Scholar in Medical Research, in Honor of Dr. Bill S. Vowell.