Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation

Paulo Henrique de Melo, Ph.D. completed his undergraduate degree at Centro Universitário de Araraquara.  He did his Ph.D. at Universidade de São Paulo in Immunology. Paulo is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of Carlos Henrique Serezani, Ph.D.... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Dr. Ann Tate is an Assistant Professor in the Vanderbilt University Department of Biological Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding reciprocal ecological and evolutionary feedbacks between hosts and parasites, using a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches to zoom back and forth between the molecular details and the population level processes. Before moving to Vanderbilt Dr. Tate was a USDA NIFA postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston, mentored by Tim Cooper. She completed her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, and received her B.S. from Rice University.... Click Dr. Tate's photo to continue reading.

Grace is originally from Northern Virginia, but she earned her BS in Biotechnology and Molecular Bioscience from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York in 2018. Grace worked under Dr. Andre Hudson while in school. She then immediately joined Vanderbilt University in 2018 through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP), and joined the Microbe-Host Interactions (MHI) Ph.D. graduate program. In the Schmitz and Hadjifrangiskou labs, Grace works on defining a molecular signature for uropathogenic E. coli. She utilizes bioinformatics and bacterial genetics techniques... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

VI4 and the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program partnered to create this infographic, which outlines the key attributes of mRNA vaccines compared with traditional vaccines. This infographic aims to present the information in lay terms for the general public. Click the image to the left to learn more and to share with your social networks!

Dudley McNitt, Ph.D. completed his undergraduate degree in Biology from University of Pittsburgh. He did his Ph.D. at West Virginia University in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis. Dudley is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of James W. Thomas II, M.D... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Dr. Bohannon completed her PhD at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX, where she began her studies into immune function following severe burn injury. After completing her PhD studies in 2011, she joined the Sherwood Lab at UTMB as a postdoctoral fellow. Shortly thereafter, she assisted Dr. Sherwood in relocating his laboratory to the Anesthesiology department at VUMC in 2012, where she completed her postdoctoral training. She joined Anesthesiology faculty in 2015 and now has her own research program aimed at investigating immunomodulatory therapies for the prevention of infection and sepsis in patients with severe burn and other critical injuries... Click Dr. Bohannon's photo to continue reading.

Logan is from Hoffman, North Carolina. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. At Morehouse College, Logan conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Juana Mendenhall where he developed therapeutic hydrogels to regenerate degraded cartilage. At Vanderbilt, he is in the Cancer Biology Graduate Program, and his project focuses on creating synthetic microenvironments to better understand tumor cell behavior... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Mona Mashayekhi, M.D., Ph.D. received her B.A. in Biology from University of Chicago. Mona did her Ph.D. and M.D. at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. She is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the labs of John Koethe and Spyros Kalams. She is also a Clinical Instructor of medicine here at VUMC in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism.... Click the image on the left to continue reading.

Dr. Wilson received his B.S. in Bioengineering from the Oregon State University Honors College, where he also trained in a number of academic and industrial research labs, including the Oregon Medical Laser Center and Bayer Pharmaceuticals. He went on to pursue his doctoral studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the Department of Surgery at Emory University and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He is now running his own lab as an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University.... Click Dr. Wilson's photo to continue reading.

Members of the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation are working together to make extraordinary advances in health and medicine. VI4 is supporting efforts to improve testing, develop therapies, and create vaccines against COVID-19. At the frontline of this battle is the laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Schmitz, the Medical Director of the VUMC Molecular Infectious Diseases Laboratory, or “MIDL" .... Click the image on the left to continue reading.