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Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Disease


Research and education in the Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (AIID) concentration in the Medical Sciences PhD program is focused on interdisciplinary approaches to the study of how microbes interact with the host to cause disease and how the immune system responds to allergens, infection and neoplasms. Students in the program are currently pursuing research projects in areas including emerging infectious diseases, bacterial pathogenesis, cancer immunotherapy, microbial drug resistance, malaria, Lyme disease, Clostridium difficile infections, regulation of immunity and inflammation, oncogenic viruses and respiratory viruses in acute and chronic diseases. The mission of our program is to promote and foster outstanding research by facilitating increasing collaboration between researchers within the Morsani College of Medicine and beyond, thus improving the health and life of patients.

Courses

The curriculum for the PhD in Medical Sciences can be found in the Graduate Catalog. A sample of courses offered within the Allergy, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases concentration is listed below. 

  • Foundations in Medical Microbiology and Immunology
  • Molecular and Cellular Immunology
  • Structural Biology
  • Methods in Molecular Medicine
  • Advances in Virology
  • Vaccines and Applied Immunology
  • Microbial Pathogenesis and Host-Parasite Interactions
  • Supervised Teaching
  • Medical Parasitology and Mycology
Graduate Catalog

Faculty & Research

Current research interests include:

  • Immune Regulation
  • HIV 
  • Viral Infections
  • Environmental Pollution and Lung Disease
  • Arthritis & Inflammation
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases
    • Lyme disease
    • Clostridium difficile infections
    • Biofilm formation by Bartonella henselae
  • Neuroimmunology

Learn more about our faculty, students, and their research interests below.

Current Faculty & Students

Affiliated Institutes & Facilities

USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute

Florida Infectious Disease Center

Diabetes Center

Concentration Spotlights

Awards

  • Jyotsna Chawla – American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene Young Investigator Award in 2020
  • Helena Hernandez Cuervo - 2020 Research Day Award for Best Doctoral Student Research in Basic Sciences
  • Caroline Simmons – USF Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research Conference Support Award. Poster titled “Modeling for Disease Outbreaks: Practical Approaches to Understanding and Using Models”

Recent Publications

  • Chawla J, Oberstaller J, Adams JH. Targeting Gametocytes of the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum in a Functional Genomics Era: Next Steps. Pathogens. 2021 Mar 16;10(3):346. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10030346. PMID: 33809464; PMCID: PMC7999360.

  • Gannon AD, Darch SE. Tools for the Real-Time Assessment of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection Model. J Vis Exp. 2021 Apr 6;(170). doi: 10.3791/62420. PMID: 33900293.

  • Sidramagowda Patil S, Hernández-Cuervo H, Fukumoto J, Krishnamurthy S, Lin M, Alleyn M, Breitzig M, Narala VR, Soundararajan R, Lockey RF, Kolliputi N, Galam L. Alda-1 Attenuates Hyperoxia-Induced Acute Lung Injury in Mice. Front Pharmacol. 2021 Jan 8;11:597942. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.597942. PMID: 33597876; PMCID: PMC7883597.

  • McGill AR, Kahlil R, Dutta R, Green R, Howell M, Mohapatra S, Mohapatra SS. SARS–CoV-2 Immuno-Pathogenesis and Potential for Diverse Vaccines and Therapies: Opportunities and Challenges. Infectious Disease Reports. 2021; 13(1):102-125. https://doi.org/10.3390/idr13010013

More Information

For information about the Medical Sciences PhD program, contact 813-974-2836 or biomedphd@usf.edu.

Apply Now

Please note, students do not apply directly to a concentration. Interested students should submit an application for the PhD in Medical Sciences. Concentrations are typically selected during the first year of study.