Administration & Faculty Members
Peter Melby, M.D. - Director
Clinical and research training in tropical diseases; Immunopathogenesis of visceral leishmaniasis; drug discovery for leishmaniasis; malnutrition in infectious diseases.
Patricia Aguilar, Ph.D. - Associate Director
Research training in arboviruses; pathogenesis of emerging arboviruses and zoonotic viruses; diagnostics; drug discovery for arboviruses.
Jennifer Koch- Program Manager
Center administration; budget development and management; graphic and web design.
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Judith Aronson, M.D.
Pathogenesis of arenavirus disease.
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Alan Barrett, Ph.D.
Director of the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development and the predoctoral T32 in “Emerging and Tropical Infectious Diseases”; Development of vaccines against flavivirus diseases, including West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever and dengue; generation of YF17D chimeric vaccine viruses; identification of molecular determinants of virulence of West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses.
David Beasley, Ph.D.
Molecular basis of virulence variations between West Nile virus strains; flaviviruses, arboviruses and smallpox
Dennis Bente, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Pathogenesis of tick-borne hemorrhagic fever viruses including Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus.
Istvan Boldogh, D.M. & B., Ph.D.
Oxidative stress
Nigel Bourne, Ph.D.
Genital herpes; hepatitis C virus; vaccines and antiviral agents
Donald Bouyer, Ph.D.
Pathogen, vector, and host determinants of rickettsial diseases.
Bukreyev, Alexander, Ph.D.
Filovirus.
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Miguel Cabada, M.D., M.Sc.
Epidemiology and host determinants of helminth infections; clinical tropical medicine
Antonella Casola, M.D.
Viral and host-specific mechanisms that contribute to the pathogenesis of respiratory viral infections; development of novel therapeutic interventions and vaccine candidates.
Alejandro Castellanos, Ph.D.
Host-parasite relationship and parasite evasion of the immune response.
Sadhana Chauhan, Ph.D.
Pathogenesis of Yersinia pestis and the identification of anti-plague therapeutics.
Tasnee Chonmaitree, M.D.
Pathogenesis, viral etiologies and genetic and environmental risk factors for acute otitis media.
Ashok Chopra, Ph.D., C.Sc.
Molecular pathogenesis of host-parasite interactions; structure-function relationships and regulation of bacterial virulence determinants; anthrax and plague.
Yingzi Cong, Ph.D.
Host immune response to intestinal microbiota, how microbiota regulate mucosal immunity, and the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases.
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Matt Dacso, M.D.
Epidemiology and social determinants of tropical diseases; global health education
Sara Dann-Grice, Ph.D.
Intestinal immune response to enteric bacterial and protozoal pathogens.
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Janice Endsley, Ph.D.
Mechanisms and regulation of cell mediated immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
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Rong Fang, M.D., Ph.D.
Immune mechanisms by which intracellular pathogens such as Rickettsia evade host defense surveillance.
Monique Ferguson, Ph.D.
Role and mechanism of action of cellular proteins (e.g. ADAM-10, CD63) involved in HIV replication.
Naomi Forrester, Ph.D.
Molecular dynamics and diversity of arboviral populations that impact transmission cycles; Venezuelan equine encephalitis transmission.
Vicki Freeman, Ph.D.
Laboratory identification of and testing for tropical diseases in resources limited countries, building laboratory capacity and in establishing and maintaining quality laboratory testing.
Alexander Freiberg, Ph.D.
Host-pathogen interaction in the development of disease following Nipah and Hendra virus and Bunyavirus (Rift Valley fever virus) infection.
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Nisha Garg, Ph.D.
Inflammation, immunity, and vaccine efficacy in T. cruzi infection and Chagas disease; policy interests in prevention of chronic diseases as a global health problem.
Roberto P. Garofalo, M.D.
Respiratory syncytial virus immunopathogenesis; inflammation; cytokine transcription; eosinophils; epithelial cell signaling.
Thomas Geisbert, Ph.D.
Pathogenesis of emerging and re-emerging viruses (Ebola virus, Marburg virus, and Lassa virus) that require Biosafety level (BSL)-4 containment and development of countermeasures against these viruses.
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Tetsuro Ikegami, Ph.D.
Molecular virology and vaccine development of important emerging viral diseases such as Rift Valley fever virus.
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Phil Keiser, M.D.
International HIV Program and Clinic Director; Health services and outcomes research in care and treatment of HIV and its related infections.
Thomas Ksiazek, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Epidemiology and ecology and laboratory diagnosis of hemorrhagic fevers and arthropod-borne viral diseases.
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James LeDuc, Ph.D.
Director of the Galveston National Laboratory; utilization of the facility to advance fundamental understanding of emerging infectious diseases and threats of bioterrorism.
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Shinji Makino, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) replication strategies, virus-host interactions and RVFV pathogenesis.
Jere McBride, Ph.D.
Role of Ehrlichia DNA binding proteins in modulating eukaryotic host cell gene transcription, and their role in pathobiology and immunity.
Gregg Milligan, Ph.D.
Activation, effector function, and regulation of immunity to herpes simplex virus; interactions between viral pathogens and the innate immune system and how these interactions shape the adaptive immune response.
Massoud Motamedi, Ph.D.
Imaging approaches to study of pathogenesis of disease; Director, Center for Biomedical Engineering.
Vladimir Motin, Ph.D.
Yersinia pestis pathogenesis; vaccine; therapeutics.
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Juan Olano, M.D.
Development of diagnostics for rickettsial diseases; molecular pathogenesis of rickettsial diseases.
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Slobodon Paessler, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Viral pathogenesis and recombinant genetics of alphaviruses and arenaviruses.
Janak A. Patel, M.D.
Clinical Tropical medicine, international travel and pediatric infectious diseases.
Premal Patel, M.D.
Social determinants of disease in resource limited settings; global health education.
Vsevolod Popov, Ph.D.
Ultrastructure of bacteria (especially rickettsia, ehrlichia, anaplasma, and chlamydia), viruses and protozoa pathogenic for humans and animals and their interaction with the host cells at the ultrastructural level.
Richard Pyles, Ph.D.
Molecular evaluation of pathogens and the host response to infections using in vitro and in vivo modeling and molecular analyses.
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Victor Reyes, Ph.D.
Mucosal immunology in infectious diseases and inflammatory bowel disease.
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Jian Sha, M.D.
Host-bacterial interactions, characterization of bacterial virulence determinants, and regulation of virulence gene expression in pathogens such as Aeromonas, Salmonella, and Yersinia.
Lynn Soong, M.D., Ph.D
Mechanisms of protection and pathogenesis in human and experimental Leishmania infection.
Robin Stephens, Ph.D.
Generation and maintenance of adaptive immunity in malaria; B cell memory and splenic architecture and effector and memory T cell differentiation.
Jiaren Sun, M.D., Ph.D.
Immunological mechanisms of viral persistence (HCV) and pathogenesis, and the effector function of cytotoxic T cells in disease resolution or progression.
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Melinda Tanabe, MD
Zoonotic helminth infections with a particular interest in fascioliasis diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies
Robert Tesh, M.D.
Ecology, epidemiology, pathogenesis and characterization of a variety of arthropod- and rodent-borne viral pathogens; Director of the World Reference Center of Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses, located at UTMB.
Saravanan Thangamani, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Arthropod-host-pathogen interactions and mechanisms of enhancement of viral transmission and establishment by blood feeding arthropods.
Alfredo Torres, Ph.D.
Mechanisms used by pathogenic E. coli and other enteric pathogens to adhere and colonize the intestinal epithelia and characterization of the regulatory networks controlling their expression.
Bruno L. Travi, DVM, Ph.D.
Immunopathogenesis of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis; identification of new anti-leishmanial drugs; development and application of affordable, field-oriented molecular tools.
Chien-Te Tseng, Ph.D.
Initiation and regulation of the innate immune response to RNA viruses and viral mechanisms of immune evasion.
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Nikos Vasilakis, Ph.D.
Evolution and pathogenesis of arthropod-borne viruses, virus – mosquito, and virus – host interactions utilizing sylvatic dengue virus (DENV) as a model.
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David Walker, M.D.
Immunopathogenesis and immunity in infection with rickettsiae and ehrlichiae and identification of the protein antigens that stimulate immunity.
Tina Wang, Ph.D.
Immune response to West Nile virus infection in protection and pathogenesis.
Stan Watowich, Ph.D.
Structural, biophysical, biochemical and computational studies of viruses and their component proteins; computer-based virtual screening and high-throughput screening of large chemical libraries for drug discovery.
Scott Weaver, Ph.D.
Alphavirus vaccine development, arboviral pathogenesis, genetics, ecology and evolution, and mechanisms of virus transmission by mosquitoes.
Susan C. Weller, Ph.D.
Field research related to public beliefs and acceptance of treatments and preventive measures.
A. Clinton White, Jr., M.D.
Human host-parasite interface and clinical tropical medicine; clinical and research training in parasitology, tropical medicine, and global health.
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Min Kyung Yi, Ph.D.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) particle assembly, therapeutic target discovery, and pathogenesis of HCV-induced metabolic diseases and cancer.