Host-Pathogen Interactions

The Training Program in Pathogenesis and Host-Pathogen Interactions (HPI) is an NIH-funded interdepartmental graduate program which currently involves the participation of 10 faculty members from multiple disciplines within the Boston University School of Medicine. Students are admitted to the HPI training program through the Department of Microbiology where they follow a program specifically designed for students in the HPI. The program of study includes a literature-based curriculum, prominent guest speakers, and spirited journal clubs as well as extensive hands-on laboratory training. Small class size and extensive interaction with the faculty provide students with the opportunity to customize their training according to their specific scientific interests.

Students may choose any of the HPI faculty, irrespective of departmental affiliation, for their research training. Particular areas of expertise within the research community include:

• bacterial gene regulation
• bacterial-host cell interactions
• diptheria toxin entry
• viral-host cell interactions
• HIV transcription and replication
• biology of adaptive immune responses
• host defense and innate immune responses
• vaccine development

Please see the individual faculty research descriptions for a more complete picture of ongoing research programs.

The HPI training program is located on the Boston Medical Center campus and is administered through the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences within the Boston University School of Medicine. BUSM ranks among the top 15 Medical Schools nationally in extramural support from the National Institutes of Health. Most pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows are supported through NIH training grants; all trainees receive full stipend, tuition, and health insurance. HPI faculty and students work in newly renovated research labs and have immediate access to state-of-the-art core facilities.

One of the more notable aspects of the HPI training program is the extensive interactions between the various faculty in the basic and clinical sciences. Our collegial atmosphere and integrative approach to training provides a highly supportive environment for students. The Medical Center is in the heart of Boston’s South End, and we are therefore only minutes from the cultural, culinary, and celebrated historical attractions of Boston. Boston is located less than 2 hours from Cape Cod and the islands, and only 2 to 4 hours away from the New England Ski Areas.

Application information and forms are available through the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences. Any further inquires can be addressed to the program.

Deborah J. Anderson, PhD, Mucosal immunology in genital tissues; mechanisms of HIV-1 transmission

Paul H. Black, MD, Psychoneuroimmunology; effect of the mind/brain on the immune system

Katharine Bossart, PhD, Emerging viruses including paramyxoviruses, flaviviruses and filoviruses

Selwyn A. Broitman, PhD, Lipid nutriture and isoprenylation inhibitors as chemotherapeutics in colon cancer and its hepatic metastases

John H. Connor, PhD, Virus/Host interaction; viral domination of protein synthesis; the potential use of viruses as cancer therapy

Ronald B. Corley, PhD, B lymphocyte development and differentiation; antibody assembly, trafficking and secretion

Rachel Fearns, PhD, Control of respiratory syncytial virus RSV synthesis

Susan H. Fisher, PhD, Regulation of nitrogen metabolism in B. subtilis; DNA-protein interactions

Lisa Ganley-Leal, PhD, Defining immune correlates of protection in human schistosomiasis

Thomas W. Geisbert, PhD, Pathogenesis of emerging viruses; development of vaccines and treatments

Caroline A. Genco, PhD, Microbial pathogenesis, vaccine development, host- parasite interactions, and bacterial gene regulation

Rahm Gummuluru, PhD, Virus-Host Interactions in HIV-1 Pathogenesis

Andrew Henderson, PhD, Cellular signals that regulate HIV transcription and replication

Linda E. Hyman, PhD, The fungal response to simulated microgravity

Robin Ingalls, MD, Reproductive immunology and the pathogenesis of gonococcal and chlamydia infections

Mark S. Klempner, MD, The molecular biology and pathogenesis of Lyme disease

Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD, Acute lower respiratory tract infection; cytokines; innate immunity; neutrophil recruitment and activation; pneumonia; transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression

Gustavo Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD, Stem cell biology and gene therapy

Elke Mühlberger, PhD, Host response to filovirus infection, molecular mechanisms of filovirus replication and transcription

John R. Murphy, PhD, Structure of the diphtheria toxin repressor; diphtheria toxin catalytic domain and entry into the eukaryotic cell cytosol; structure- function of IL7

Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, PhD, Inflammation in type 2 diabetes and other inflammatory diseases; molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis; regulation of IL-1 beta production

Ian R. Rifkin, M.D., PhD, Mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus-associated atherosclerosis

John C. Samuelson, MD, PhD, Biochemistry, cell biology, pathogenesis, and evolution of parasites that causes diarrhea and dysentery

David C. Seldin, MD, PhD, Lymphoproliferative diseases and other malignancies; mechanisms of disease in the plasma cell disorder “systemic amyloidosis”

Jean E.M. van Seventer, VMD,

Gregory A. Viglianti, PhD, Molecular biology of HIV-1; the role of virus-host cell interactions in pathogenesis

Lee M. Wetzler, MD, Vaccine development; microbial immunity and pathogenesis; effect of bacterial products on eukaryotic cells

Lewis Wray, PhD, Regulation of gene expression in Bacillus subtilis

Glen B. Zamansky, PhD, Keratinocyte cell biology and cellular responses to ultraviolet radiation