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Translational Immunology and Infectious Disease

Translational and Molecular Medicine Pathway

Immunology and infectious disease research are at the cutting edge of efforts to tackle some of the most pressing global health challenges, including emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19 and AIDS, as well as autoimmune disorders such as lupus, Type 1 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This research is also crucial in the fight against various cancers.

The Translational Immunology and Infectious Disease focus area, sponsored by the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, is dedicated to equipping the students with the knowledge and experimental skills necessary to address these critical health issues. You will have the opportunity to work alongside leading faculty investigating the mechanisms that drive immune responses. Their research spans the development and improvement of vaccines, cancer immunotherapy, organ and stem cell transplantation, treatments for autoimmune diseases, the effects of aging on the immune system, HIV virology and therapeutics, and the molecular mechanisms behind viral carcinogenesis.

This program offers an unparalleled opportunity for medical students to collaborate with both clinical and basic scientists, gaining hands-on training in cutting-edge concepts and methodologies. By participating in this focus area, you will contribute to the development of novel therapeutics for immune-mediated conditions and infectious diseases, positioning yourself at the forefront of medical innovation.

Join us in advancing healthcare through cutting-edge research and discovery!


Our Team

For information about our faculty mentors participating in the research training, please see our faculty listing.

Alejandro V Villarino, Ph.D.

Alejandro V Villarino, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Publications
Biography: Dr. Villarino was born in Caracas, Venezuela and emigrated to the United States at age 5. Both his primarily and secondary education took place in New Jersey, culminating in a bachelor’s degree from Drew University. His interest in cytokine biology began as a PhD student in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Hunter at the University of Pennsylvania. There, he first encountered...
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Dimitrios Kouroupis

Dimitrios Kouroupis

Assistant Professor (Research)

Biography: Dimitrios Kouroupis (born 1982 in Athens, Greece), obtained his Biology degree in 2006 (Aristotle University of Thessalonica, Greece), his MSc in Biosciences degree in 2007 (University of Leeds, United Kingdom) and his PhD in Regenerative Medicine in 2012 (University of Leeds, United Kingdom). As an early stage post-doctoral researcher, he contributed to the field of Stem...
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Javier Pagan

Javier A Pagan, M.D.

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension

Biography: Dr. Javier Pagan was born and raised in Ponce, PR, and attended the Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences graduating with honors in 2012. Following medical school, he completed his internal medicine residency and Nephrology fellowship at the University of Miami / Jackson Memorial Hospital. He completed an advanced fellowship in transplant Nephrology at the Miami...
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Robert Levy, Ph.D.

Robert Levy, Ph.D.

Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Robert B. Levy is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and member of the Tumor Biology section of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He obtained his MS/PhD at the Ohio State University and completed his post-doctoral training at the Immunology Branch at the NCI, NIH with Dr. Gene Shearer investigating MHC-restricted T cell antigen recognition...
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Natasa Strbo, M.D.

Natasa Strbo, M.D., D.Sc.

Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Natasa Strbo is a basic and translational immunologist, assistant professor on a tenure-track at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. She pioneered research on molecular and cellular mechanisms of heat shock protein gp96 and developed vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and cancer that are based on...
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Patricia Jones, M.D.

Patricia D Jones, M.D.

Associate Professor, Digestive Health and Liver Diseases
Clinical Profile | Publications
Biography: Dr. Jones, a Hepatologist and Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, joined University of Miami faculty in 2015. She takes a multi-pronged approach to researching disparities in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and chronic liver disease. She leads the Liver Cancer Tumor Board. She participates in multiple NIH-funded multicenter studies investigating the multilevel determinants...
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Thomas Malek, Ph.D.

Thomas Malek, Ph.D.

Professor and Chairman of Microbiology and Immunology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Thomas Malek received his Ph.D. in 1977 after training with Dr. Katherine Knight at the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago. After postdoctoral training with Ethan Shevach at the NIH, he joined the faculty of the University of Miami in 1985, where he currently is Professor and Chair in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. His research has a long-standing...
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Kevin Van der Jeught, Ph.D.

Kevin Van der Jeught, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Kevin Van der Jeught was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. In 2012 he graduated Magna Cum Laude in Biomedical Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. He started a PhD in Medical Sciences on the topic « use of mRNA-based adjuvants to stimulate cancer-specific immune responses » at the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Therapy under the...
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Zhibin Chen, M.D.

Zhibin Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Chen is an immunologist. He studies the mechanisms of autoimmune diseases, infection and cancer, to understand the diseases and discover new interventions. His lab focuses on mucosal immunology and cancer immunology. Dr. Chen received his clinical medicine training in Luzhou Medical College (now Southwest Medical University) in China. He obtained his PhD training in...
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Savita Pahwa, M.D.

Savita Pahwa, M.D.

Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
Publications
Biography: I am a Professor in the department of Microbiology and Immunology with secondary appointments in Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida, USA. I am a physician scientist, graduate of Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi, India. After completing a Pediatric internship and residency, I trained as an immunologist at the Memorial...
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Erietta Stelekati, Ph.D.

Erietta Stelekati, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Publications
Biography: I joined the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami as an Assistant Professor in January 2020. My interest in Immunology started early during my undergraduate studies in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. I joined the Department of Immunopharmacology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, as an exchange student and completed a 9-month...
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John Burnett, Ph.D.

John Burnett, Ph.D.

Assoc. Professor of Microbiology and Immunology - Pending Rank
Publications
Biography: I graduated from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and the University of California, Berkeley with a Ph.D. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. My doctoral training as an engineer and my postdoctoral training in molecular biology and virology prepared me with the knowledge and skills to translate biological tools in the laboratory...
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Mario Stevenson, Ph.D.

Mario Stevenson, Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Biography: Dr. Mario Stevenson is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Director of the Institute of AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases (IAEID), Director of the Global Virus Network, and Co-Director of the Miami Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) at the University of Miami. Prior to 2020, Dr. Stevenson was the David Freelander Chair for AIDS Research at the University of Massachusetts...
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Kurt Schesser, Ph.D.

Kurt Schesser, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Publications
Biography: After obtaining my Ph.D. at Oregon State University, I completed my postdoctoral training in host-pathogen interactions under the mentorship of Prof. Hans Wolf-Watz at Ume? University, Sweden. I then held a junior faculty position in the Immunology Section at Lund University, Sweden in which I developed an independent research program. In 2001 I moved to the Department...
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Noula Dattu Shembade, Ph.D.

Noula Dattu Shembade, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Noula Shembade is a basic and translational virologist, associate professor tenured at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami (UM). His research focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of pathogenic infection-induced uncontrolled inflammation, which leads to autoimmune diseases...
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Defne Bayik Watson

Defne Bayik

Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Defne Bayik is a cancer immunologist focused on uncovering host regulatory pathways as targets for brain tumor immunotherapy. She completed her undergraduate degree in the Bilkent University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics and received her Ph.D. in 2016 through the National Institutes of Health-Bilkent University Graduate Partnership Program. Her dissertation...
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 Daniela Frasca, Ph.D.

Daniela Frasca, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor
Publications
Biography: Born in Italy, I graduated from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” with a BSc University degree in Biology cum laude in May 1980. My scientific career started after my graduation studying the possibility to reconstitute T cell function of mice immunocompromised by aging and/or irradiation using immunoregulatory molecules, such as thymic hormones (thymosin-a1) and cytokines...
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Maria Abreu, M.D.

Maria Abreu, M.D.

Director Crohn’s & Colitis Center, Digestive Health and Liver Diseases
Clinical Profile | Publications
Biography: Dr. Maria T. Abreu is a gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She completed her medical degree at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Her postdoctoral training included an internship and residency in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology...
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Paolo Serafini, Ph.D.

Paolo Serafini, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Publications
Biography: Dr. Paolo Serafini, Ph.D. is a Tenured Associate Professor in Microbiology and Immunology and in Otolaryngology at the University of Miami and the Translational leader of the Head and Neck Site Disease Group at the NCI-designated Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Miami Florida. Dr. Serafini was formally educated with a Laurea (BS and master) in Genetic and Molecular...
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Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D.

Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D.

Vice Provost for Innovation, University of Miami and Chief Innovation Officer, Miller School of Medicine, Cellular Transplantation
Publications
Biography: Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D. is The Martin Kleiman Professor of Surgery, Microbiology & Immunology, Biomedical Engineering and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami. Dr. Kenyon and her research team have focused on ways to transplant insulin producing cells, in both clinically relevant islet transplant models and in...
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Eric Greidinger

Eric L. Greidinger, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology and Immunology
Clinical Profile
Biography: Dr. Greidinger is a member of the rheumatology clinical faculty at the University of Miami and Miami VA with rank of Associate Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology with tenure. Dr. Greidinger’s research interests include the roles of innate immunity in autoimmunity, the immunopathogenesis of anti-RNP autoimmunity including in Mixed Connective Tissue...
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Sabita Roy, Ph.D.

Sabita Roy, Ph.D.

Professor and Vice Chair For Research and Career Development, Oncology Molecular Therapeutics (OMT)
Publications
Biography: Sabita Roy is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery, at the University of Miami. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Kansas and pursued postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. After completion of her post-doctoral training, she was recruited as an Assistant Professor and rose...
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