Immunology Program

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Program Directors

Immunology Program

Graduate Student Coordinator: Melanie Puhar
Immunology Faculty Director: Ken Murphy

Immunology Program Guidelines
List of Current Students
Request Ph.D. Admissions Information

Immunology is the discipline of biology that examines the mechanisms of host defense against pathogenic agents. The study of the immune system offers a unique opportunity to analyze a complex multicomponent system consisting of molecules and cells that have documented physiologic relevance. Immunology has a strong foundation in biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology.

Washington University School of Medicine has a large community of investigators who make immunology their primary focus. The research within our program spans a broad spectrum, ranging from studies at the basic structural and molecular levels of host defense all the way to clinical applications directed at significant health problems, such as cancer immunotherapy. The Program in Immunology has grown to include more than 50 research laboratories and the number continues to increase. This unusual concentration of immunologists was the stimulus that led to the formation of a separate Graduate Program in Immunology in 1986.

For information regarding career path and complete program guidelines, click here.

Typical Program of Study

Required courses: There are five required courses that must be completed with a grade of B or better.

Bio 5051 Foundations in Immunology (4 credits): Fall of 1st year
Bio 5264 Pillars in Immunology (2 credits): Spring of 1st year
Bio 5261 Molecular Mechanisms of Disease (2 credits): Spring of 1st year
Bio 5272 Advanced Topics in Immunology (2 credits): Fall of 2nd year

Other Recommended courses:

Bio 5161 Lymphoid Organogenesis (3 credits): Fall of 2nd year

Electives:

In addition to the four required courses, students must complete 2-3 additional elective courses, with a grade of B or better, for a total of no less than 5 credits.

Bio 5068 Fundamentals of Molecular Cell Biology (4 credits): Fall
Bio 5392 Molecular Microbiology & Pathogenesis (3 credits): Spring
Bio 5014 Biotech Industry Innovators (3 credits): Spring
Bio 548 Nucleic Acids & Protein Biosynthesis (3 credits): Fall
Bio 5312 Macromolecular Interactions (3 credits): Spring
Bio 5326 Systems Cell and Molecular Biology (3 credits): Spring
Bio 5352 Developmental Biology (3 credits): Spring

By the end of the second year, most students will have completed their formal course work and their qualifying examination for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree. Students then spend most of their time working on their chosen thesis-research problem in the laboratory.

M.D./Ph.D. Students:

During their first year in the immunology graduate program (third year MSTP) M.D./Ph.D. students will take two courses:

Bio 5051 in the fall and Bio 5264 spring
or
Bio 5051 and Bio 5272 concurrently in the fall
or
Bio 5272 in the fall and Bio 5264 in the spring

The decision on which course combination to take will depend on the student’s interest and prior background in immunology.

By the end of the first year in the program (third year MSTP), most M.D./Ph.D. students will have completed their formal course work and their qualifying examination for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree.

Immunology Program Faculty


Paul M. Allen, Ph.D. - Recognition of antigen by T cells.
John P. Atkinson, M.D. - Complement activation and regulation in innate and adaptive immunity.
Monica Bessler, M.D., Ph.D. - We investigate the molecular and biochemical pathways causing bone marrow failure and screen for new therapeutic agents that might improve the production of blood cells
Stephen M. Beverley, Ph.D. - Molecular genetics of protozoan parasite virulence.
Deepta Bhattacharya, Ph.D. - Fate Decisions in the Hematopoietic and Immune System
Anne M. Bowcock, Ph.D. - Genetics and Genomics approaches to human disease
Thomas J. Brett, Ph.D. - Structural biology and molecular basis of lung diseases
Emily Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. - Integration of apoptotic signaling cascades and the mitochondrion-sependent death program.
Kyunghee Choi, Ph.D. - Hematopoietic, Vascular and Cardiac Development in Mammalian System
Marco Colonna, M.D. - Innate immune system biology, cells, and molecules
Janet M. Connolly, Ph.D. - CD8 T cell recognition of MHC class I.
Michael S. Diamond, M.D., Ph.D. - Pathogenesis of West Nile encephalitis and Dengue hemorrhagic fever viruses.
Roberta Faccio, Ph.D. - osteoclasts, arthritis, inflammation, phospholipase gamma, bone resorption, cytoskeleton
Todd A. Fehniger, M.D., Ph.D. - My laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanisms regulating natural killer cell activation, and novel methods to use NK cells as immunotherapy for cancer.
Thomas A. Ferguson, Ph.D. - Cell death, apoptosis, immune tolerance, T-cells, lymphocyte, macrophages, angiogenesis, immune privilege.
Daved H. Fremont, Ph.D. - Structural aspects of the immune response studied by x-ray crystallography.
Anthony R. French, Ph.D., M.D. - In vivo NK cell responses during viral infections
William E. Gillanders, M.D. - Development of a breast cancer vaccine
Timothy A. Graubert, M.D. - The study of normal and leukemic hematopoietic stem cell biology.
Jonathan M. Green, M.D. - The role of costimulatory molecules in T cell activation.
Ted H. Hansen, Ph.D. - Antigen presentation to CD8+ T cells.
Daniel F. Hanson, Ph.D. - Fever as an evolutionarily adaptive regulator of immune host defense.
Michael J. Holtzman, M.D. - Acute and chronic responses to respiratory viruses.
Chyi-Song Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D. - Understanding the mechanisms controlling self-reactive T cells.
Yina H. Huang, Ph.D. - IP4 regulation of lymphocyte activation, development and tumorigenesis.
Robyn S. Klein, M.D., Ph.D. - Molecular basis of inflammation-associated dysfunction in viral and autoimmune encephalitides
Deborah J. Lenschow, M.D., Ph.D. - Antiviral mechanisms of type I interferons and the role of interferons and viruses in vascular disease.
Timothy J. Ley, M.D. - Study of normal versus leukemic blood cell development and immunology.
Daniel C. Link, M.D. - Molecular regulation of normal and neoplastic hematopoiesis.
Gregory D. Longmore, M.D. - Epithelia morphogenesis in development and disease - cancer metastasis
Mark James Miller, Ph.D. - Lymphoid tissue dynamics and antigen-presentation during infection, cancer and autoimmunity.
Jason C. Mills, M.D., Ph.D. - Developmental, molecular, and cellular biology of gastric epithelial stem cells
T. Mohanakumar, B.V.Sc., Ph.D. - Cellular and molecular mechanisms of human allograft tolerance and rejection.
Kenneth M. Murphy, M.D., Ph.D. - T cell development, lineage commitment.
Indira U. Mysorekar, Ph.D. - Mechanisms of urothelial renewal in normal and diseased urinary bladder
Rodney Newberry, M.D. - Development and function of inducible lymphoid tissues in the intestine.
Eugene M. Oltz, Ph.D. - Genetic and epigenetic programs that guide normal lymphocyte development and contribute to cellular transformation.
Christine T.N. Pham, M.D. - The role(s) of cysteine and serine proteases in inflammatory diseases.
John H. Russell, Ph.D. - CNS/lymphocyte interactions regulating inflammation and pathogenesis in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis
Robert D. Schreiber, Ph.D. - Cytokine receptor signaling and immunological protection against tumor development.
Andrey S. Shaw, M.D. - Biochemistry and imaging of signaling pathways and genetic basis of kidney disease.
L. David Sibley, Ph.D. - Cellular and molecular basis of intracellular parasitism by protozoan parasites.
Barry P. Sleckman, M.D., Ph.D. - T cell development and lineage determination.
Philip D. Stahl, Ph.D. - Hominoid-specific genes such as TBC1D3, that regulate growth factor receptor signaling, may explain why human physiology and pathobiology differs from lower species.
Thaddeus S. Stappenbeck, Ph.D., M.D. - Molecular interactions between intestinal epithelial stem cells and their niche.
Thomas H. Steinberg, M.D. - Gap junctional communication, P2 receptors, and intercellular calcium signaling.
Wojciech A. Swat, Ph.D. - Molecular mechanisms of blood cell development and activation.
Sandeep K. Tripathy, M.D., Ph.D. - Receptor-mediated modulation of NK cell responses in vivo.
Emil R. Unanue, M.D. - Immunology-antigen presentation, antigen processing and presentation by MHC molecules.
Herbert W. "Skip" Virgin, M.D., Ph.D. - We study viral immunology and search for new pathogens.
David Wang, Ph.D. - Functional genomic approaches to new pathogen discovery.
Gregory F. Wu, M.D., Ph.D. -
Nabeel R. Yaseen, M.D., Ph.D. - Molecular Pathogenesis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Wayne M. Yokoyama, M.D. - Host innate immune responses to pathogens and tumors.
Lijuan Zhang, Ph.D. - Glycosaminoglycan structure and biology