National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories Appoints Director of Aerobiology Core
Boston University School of Medicine
For Immediate Release
July 14, 2009
Contact: Michelle Roberts, 617-638-8491, michelle.roberts@bmc.org
(Boston) – Igor Kramnik, MD, Ph.D, has joined the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) Institute as the director of the aerobiology core and associate professor of medicine and member of the pulmonary center at Boston University School of Medicine. Kramnik also will be an investigator at the NEIDL Institute and serve on its Internal Scientific Advisory Committee.
Kramnik received his medical degree from Samara State Medical University in Samara, Russia and obtained his PhD from the Central Institute for Tuberculosis Research in Moscow, Russia. He completed a residency in internal medicine there and a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology and genetics at the Centre for the Study of Host Resistance at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Kramnik’s research interests are mechanisms of host resistance to infection with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis with special emphasis on lung-specific aspects of the disease progression and granuloma biology. Prior to his appointment, Kramnik served as an associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard School of Public Health.
Kramnik has been a guest speaker at numerous medical conferences and scientific presentations. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association of Immunologists, Mammalian Genome Society and the American Society for Microbiology.
The NEIDL’s Aerobiology Core Laboratory will serve as the hub for research projects exploring aerosol transmission of infectious agents, lung immunity and potential therapeutics and vaccines delivered via the aerosol route. Kramik’s research focus will be on developing a world class program on the genetics of mycobacterial infections. His research efforts will take advantage of the capabilities of the NEIDL facility, namely BSL3 and BSL4 aerobiology cores and the other high containment core facilities. The aerobiology program is one of the centerpieces of the NEIDL Institute’s emerging infectious diseases research program and is of great importance to the future success of the NEIDL.
“We are thrilled to have recruited Dr. Kramnik to join the NEIDL team,” said Mark Klempner, NEIDL director. “Dr. Kramnik’s experience will be very beneficial to further the NEIDL’s mission of providing cutting edge research on one of the world’s most pressing re-emerging infectious disease, namely tuberculosis.”
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