Research Categories - Infectious Disease

There are numerous laboratories at HMS interested in understanding how infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria can circumvent biological defense systems and elicit illness. There is a strong emphasis on viral-induced diseases that require more effective and less toxic medical treatments such as AIDS, hepatitis, and Dengue fever. Technology-intensive explorations into viral fusion events and structural elucidation of viral particles are also ongoing on campus. Another area of expertise is antibiotic resistance and microbiological biosynthetic pathways that produce naturally occurring antibiotics.

Related Investigators

  1. Jonathan Beckwith, PhD

    Study cellular processes in bacteria: protein folding, reduction and formation of protein disulfide bonds, membrane protein dynamics

    Investigate fundamental molecular processes, including protein folding and disulfide bond formation, using E. coli as a model system

  2. James Chou, PhD

    NMR spectroscopy and membrane protein structure; viral ion channels; antiviral compounds

    Apply advanced technologies to the reconstitution and structural biochemistry of membrane proteins, with a focus on viral ion channels; analyze the structure of membrane proteins at the level of ...

  3. Ronald Desrosiers, PhD

    HIV and AIDS: vaccine; persistent immune response

    Develop new strategies for blunting viral replication and bolstering the immune system’s ability to eradicate viral-infected T-cell reservoirs. 

  4. Michael Farzan, PhD

    VIRAL ENTRY AND ANTI-VIRAL STRATEGIES Viral Receptors; HIV Therapy; Dengue Virus; SARS; Ebola Virus

    Undertake translational studies geared toward the development of novel peptide mimetic inhibitors of HlV binding to its cell surface receptor, modeled after the CD4 and CCR5 HIV receptor/co-receptor; ...

  5. Robert Paul Johnson, MD

    HIV mechanism of action and new AIDS therapies

    Gene therapy; vaccines

  6. Keith Mansfield, DVM

    Infectious diseases and aging: simian AIDS; opportunistic infection; diet

    Infectious diseases, aging, and dietary intervention.

  7. Xuebin Qin, MD, PhD

    Immune modulation to treat cancer and viral infections

    CD59, the complement cascade, and disease    

  8. Michael Starnbach, PhD

    Bacterial infection and acquired immunity

    T-cell response to bacterial infection, including sexually transmitted chlamydia disease

  9. Antoine Van Oijen, PhD

    Single molecule imaging for uncovering molecular mechanisms of action: biologic and therapeutic analysis

    Dr. van Oijen’s research utilizes single molecule imaging for uncovering molecular mechanisms of action pertaining to cell fusion of enveloped viruses, DNA replication fork dynamics, and ...

  10. Susan Westmoreland, VMD

    Neuropathology of HIV and SIV infections and AIDS

    Explore the molecular and cellular bases of neuropathologies associated with HIV and SIV infections, including encephalitis and dementia.