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IID faculty and research

Faculty associated with the Immunology and Infectious Diseases Intercollege Graduate Degree Program at Penn State, and a summary of their research interests. Faculty are listed in alphabetical order of last name. To see more information about a faculty member, click on his/her name.
Name Email/phone Interests include
August, Avery
  • Associate Professor of Immunology
  • Co-chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Molecular Medicine
axa45@psu.edu
814-863-3539
    (University Park) 		Signal transduction pathways that regulate immune function; in particular, role of Tec family tyrosine kinases in T cells and mast cells. How manipulation of these signals affect immune response in diseases such as allergic asthma.
Bjornstad, Ottar
  • Associate Professor of Entomology and Biology
  • Adjunct Professor in Statistics
onb1@psu.edu
814-863-2983
    (University Park) 		Outbreak and persistence of infectious disease (ecological statistics, population dynamics, species interactions, spatial dynamics, ecology of infectious disease).
Bonneau, Robert
  • Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
rhb3@psu.edu
717-531-4078
    (Hershey) 		Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying stress-induced, neuroendocrine-mediated modulation of the immune response to herpes simplex virus infections.
Cantorna, Margherita
  • Associate Professor in Molecular Immunology
  • Co-chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Immunology and Infectious Diseases
mxc69@psu.edu
814-863-2819
    (University Park) 		Vitamin D regulation of autoimmunity, especially inflammatory bowel diseases. Molecular and cellular regulation of host immunity, and regulation by nutrients.
Christensen, Neil
  • Associate Professor of Pathology, and Microbiology and Immunology
  • Co-chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Immunology and Infectious Diseases
ndc1@psu.edu
717-531-6185
    (Hershey) 		Molecular analysis of papillomavirus immunity.
Craig, Timothy
  • Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
tcraig@psu.edu
717-531-5785
    (Hershey) 		Rhinitis and its effects on sleep and daytime somnolence; allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Cui, Liwang
  • Associate Professor of Entomology
luc2@psu.edu
814-863-7663
    (University Park) 		Insect biochemistry and molecular biology; molecular parasitology; medical entomology; host-parasite/pathogen interactions.
Dudley, Edward
  • Assistant Professor of Food Science
egd100@psu.edu
814-867-0439
    (University Park) 		Mechanisms of environmental survival and virulence of pathogens associated with foodborne disease.
Frisque, Richard
  • Professor of Molecular Virology
rjf6@psu.edu
814-863-3523
    (University Park) 		Investigating the pathogenic behavior of JC virus, especially in immunosuppressed individuals.
Gardner, Thomas
  • Professor of Ophthalmology, and Cellular and Molecular Physiology
tgardner@psu.edu
717-531-8783
    (Hershey) 		Mechanisms of cellular injury in the retina which lead to retinopathy, especially factors that change tight junction protein expression. Changes in the neural retina in diabetes.
Gowda, Channe
  • Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
gowda@psu.edu
717-531-0992
    (Hershey) 		Understanding the structures and interactions between malaria parasites and human glycoconjugates that lead to malaria pathogenesis.
Grenfell, Bryan
  • Alumni Professor of Biology
grenfell@psu.edu
814-865-6080
    (University Park) 		Understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of infectious disease and how these are affected by control strategies. Phylodynamics: exploring how pathogen phylogenies are affected by host immunity, transmission bottlenecks and epidemic dynamics.
Hankey, Pamela (Pam)
  • Associate Professor of Immunology
phc7@psu.edu
814-863-0128
    (University Park) 		Murine Stk receptor tyrosine kinase and its function in macrophage regulation and inflammation and in leukemic development.
Harvill, Eric
  • Associate Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Disease
harvill@psu.edu
814-863-8522
    (University Park) 		Interactions between bacterial pathogens and host immunology.
He, Biao
  • Assistant Professor of Veterinary Science
bxh40@psu.edu
814-863-8533
    (University Park) 		Viral pathogenesis focusing on the interactions between paramyxoviruses and hosts. Development of antiviral drugs and virus vectors, for vaccine development and gene therapy.
Holmes, Edward (Eddie)
  • Professor in Biology
ech15@psu.edu
814-863-4689
    (University Park) 		Evolutionary biology of viruses, especially mechanisms that enable viruses to cross species barriers and emerge in new hosts.
Hudson, Peter
  • Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
  • Willaman Professor of Biology
pjh18@psu.edu
814-865-6057
    (University Park) 		Wildlife disease ecology: the transmission and dynamics of parasites in wild animals, with particular emphasis on zoonotic infections and parasite community structure.
Kennett, Mary
  • Professor of Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences
  • Director, Animal Resource Program
mjk26@psu.edu
814-865-1495
    (University Park) 		The pathogenesis of infectious disease: examining bacterial virulence and associated pathology in relation to host immune responses.
Mastro, Andrea
  • Professor of Microbiology and Cell Biology
a36@psu.edu
814-863-0152
    (University Park) 		Breast cancer and the immune system; the effects of exercise on the immune system.
Norbury, Chris
  • Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
ccn1@psu.edu
717-531-7204
    (Hershey) 		The role of macrophages and dendritic cells in antigen presentation, antiviral immunity and in chronic inflammation during diabetes.
Ott, Troy
  • Associate Professor of Reproductive Physiology
tlo12@psu.edu
814-441-2657
    (University Park) 		Fertility and reproductive immunology in domestic farm animals. Improving diagnosis of infertility and viral infections.
Paulson, Robert (Bob)
  • Assistant Professor of Veterinary Science
rfp5@psu.edu
814-863-6306
    (University Park) 		Roles of host genes in restricting infection by Friend erythroleukemia virus.
Phelps, David
  • Professor of Pediatrics
dsp4@psu.edu
717-531-5925
    (Hershey) 		Surfactant regulation of lung immune cell function.
Poss, Mary
  • Professor in Biology and in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
mposs@bx.psu.edu
814-867-1213
    (University Park) 		Molecular mechanisms of virus and host adaptation at scales that span protein and structure to population dynamics.
Prabhu, Sandeep
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
ksp4@psu.edu
814-863-8976
    (University Park) 		Regulation of immune function by oxidative stress and antioxidants, including selenium. Regulation of HIV transcription by selenium.
Ross, Catharine
  • Professor in Nutritional Science and Occupant of Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair
acr6@psu.edu
814-865-4721
    (University Park) 		Vitamin A metabolism; hepatic retinoid function and gene expression; vitamin A in infection and immunity.
Rybka, Witold
  • Professor of Medicine
wrybka@psu.edu
717-531-5059
    (Hershey) 		Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Schell, Todd
  • Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
tschell@psu.edu
717-531-8169
    (Hershey) 		Cellular immune responses in the control of cancer. Investigation of CD8+ T lymphocyte response in unique tumor environments to define immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer.
Schlegel, Robert
  • Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
ur3@psu.edu
814-865-6974
    (University Park) 		Molecular mechanisms responsible for recognition by macrophages of phosphatidylserine on apoptotic cell surfaces.
Schmitt, Anthony (Tony)
  • Assistant Professor of Molecular Immunology and Infectious Diseases
aps13@psu.edu
814-863-6781
    (University Park) 		The process of paramyxovirus particle formation by budding: identifying and characterizing viral proteins used in budding, and learning how these manipulate host budding machinery to allow virus release.
Teng, Michael
  • Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
mnt2@psu.edu
814-865-4347
    (University Park) 		Virus-host interactions in the pathogenesis of viral infection.
Truckenmiller, Emmy
  • Assistant Professor of Microbiology
met11@psu.edu
717-531-8147
    (Hershey) 		Neuro-endocrine modulation of dendritic cell function (maturation, antigen presentation, cytokine production, migration) in the initial steps of T cell-mediated anti-viral/tumor immunity.
Xiong, Na
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
  • Director, Transgenic Mouse Facility
nux1@psu.edu
814-863-2933
    (University Park) 		Development and function of gamma/delta T cells, a class of immune cells with various roles in microbial immunity, inflammation regulation and tumor surveillance.