Research Spotlights

Brent Ferrell received his M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He joined the Irish lab in 2012 as a Fellow in Vanderbilt’s Tinsley R. Harrison Society physician-scientist training program and became Instructor of Medicine in 2015. In 2017, Brent received NIH/NHLBI K23 HL138291, was promoted, and started his own lab as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center..... Click Dr. Ferrell's photo to continue reading.

Todd Bartkowiak, PhD received his BS in Biology from Sam Houston State University and his MS in Biomedical Science / Immunology from MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Science. Todd did his PhD research with Michael Curran, PhD and James Allison, PhD, at MD Anderson. He joined the Jonathan Irish and Rebecca Ihrie labs as a Postdoctoral Scholar in 2018 to study brain tumor immunology. Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Benem-Orom Davids is a graduate student at Meharry Medical College. He graduated from Morehouse College in 2011 with his B.S. in Biology, Bioinformatics, and Public Health. He joined the Dash Lab in 2014, where they study the mechanism of HIV-1 replication and pathogenesis... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Ivelin Georgiev received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Duke University. In 2009, he joined the newly formed Structural Bioinformatics Core Section at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD, where he served as a staff scientist and co-head until 2015. Dr. Georgiev is an Associate Director for the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation. He is also a faculty member at the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center and an Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and of Computer Science at Vanderbilt.... Click Dr. Georgiev's photo to continue reading.

Laura Hesse is from southern Indiana and graduated from Michigan State University in 2017 with her B.S. in Microbiology. She joined the Skaar Lab the following year, where she studies nutrient metal homeostasis in Acinetobacter baumannii... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Allison Norlander is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received her B.S. in microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh. Allison then earned her Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University studying the impact of salt on T helper 17 cells in hypertension with Dr. Meena Madhur and Dr. David Harrison. She joined Peebles lab in 2017 and currently studies the influence of prostacyclin on T regulatory cells in allergic inflammation... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Timothy L. Cover, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Cover received a B.S. degree in Biology from Muhlenberg College and an M.D. degree from Duke University. Following an Internal Medicine residency at Penn State University, he completed an Infectious Diseases Fellowship at University of Colorado... Click Dr. Cover's photo to continue reading.

Members of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation are making extraordinary advances in health and medicine. VI4 is developing therapies for the treatment of infection, autoimmunity, and cancer. At the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic is the laboratory of VI4 member, Dr. Mark R. Denison .... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Wonder Puryear Drake, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Drake completed her B.S. at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and then her M.D. right here at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Drake is interested in exploring the etiology as well as pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory states, particularly sarcoidosis.... Click Dr. Drake's photo to continue reading.

Members of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation are making extraordinary advances in health and medicine. VI4 is developing therapies for the treatment of infection, autoimmunity, and cancer. At the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic is the laboratory of VI4 member, Dr. James Crowe.... Click the image on the left to continue reading.