Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation

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.

Vaccines and antibody therapeutics are two of the most promising measures to counteract SARS-CoV-2, and subsequent COVID-19 disease. While there is some overlap between these two approaches, there are some key distinctions to be drawn... Click the graphic to the left to learn the basics!

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.

Dr. Serezani completed his PhD at the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Michigan. He also completed his postdoctoral studies at University of Michigan. He was an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and has published more than 50 papers in reputed journals. The NIH and other foundations have funded his laboratory for almost 10 years. The Serezani laboratory aims to develop therapeutic strategies to control systemic (sepsis) and localized infections (skin and lung) in healthy individuals, individuals with immune deficiencies, and those suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes. They have concentrated much of their efforts in understanding the role of the lipid mediators leukotriene B4 and prostaglandin E2 and their actions on microRNAs, epigenetic changes and phosphatases to modulate immune cells involved in the control of microbial infection in these different contexts..... Click Dr. Serezani's photo to continue reading.

Justin M. Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Cancer Biology and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. He received his Pharm.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo and his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Balko's laboratory is focused on improving treatment outcomes in breast cancer (particularly triple-negative breast cancer) as well as in other solid tumors. To accomplish this, they integrate data from genomic and molecular profiling studies with molecular biology and signal transduction methodologies to translationally identify altered pathways in cancer, the functional consequences of these alterations, and ways to directly target them in patients to improve clinical outcomes and survival. These efforts span in silico (publically available databases), in vitro (cell culture), in vivo (mouse and human clinical studies) and in situ (histology) methods. The lab has a strong interest in the intersection between new immunotherapies and tumor cell signaling pathways.... Click Dr. Balko's photo to continue reading.

Mary Philip, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology and an Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. She grew up in Chicago and received her BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and her M.D. and Ph.D. in cancer biology from the University of Chicago. She completed her residency at the University of Chicago and her Hematology/Oncology Fellowship training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington in Seattle. She then worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York to decipher the epigenetic regulation of tumor-specific T cell dysfunction before moving to Nashville... Click Dr. Philip's photo to continue reading.