Meet Key Faculty & Specific Research Interests

Megan Tierney Baldridge, MD, PhD

Megan Tierney Baldridge, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology

Dr. Baldridge studies the complicated interplay among three important factors: commensal microbes, the host immune system, and viral and bacterial pathogens.

Pallavi Chandra, PhD

Pallavi Chandra, PhD

Instructor in Medicine

Dr. Chandra specializes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis, with a special focus on immunometabolism. In recent work, she characterized a novel relationship between macrophage fatty acid metabolism and antimycobacterial immunity.

Erik R. Dubberke, MD, MSPH

Erik R. Dubberke, MD, MSPH

Professor of Medicine

Dr. Dubberke specializes in clinical and translational infectious diseases, with a focus on transplant infectious diseases, hospital epidemiology, and Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).

James M. Fleckenstein, MD

James M. Fleckenstein, MD

Professor, Departments of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology

Dr. Fleckenstein’s lab focuses on the identification and molecular characterization of novel ETEC virulence factors that could serve as targets for vaccine development. Studies in the lab use a variety of molecular techniques and in vitro and in vivo models to elucidate the role of these novel virulence factors in several key steps essential in the pathogenesis of these organisms: bacterial adhesion, intestinal colonization, and finally toxin delivery.

Jeffrey P. Henderson, MD, PhD

Jeffrey P. Henderson, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology

Dr. Henderson specializes in infection pathogenesis, with a special focus on urinary tract infections and identifying how special bacterial adaptations increase pathogenic potential in patients.

Dimitri Kotov, PhD

Dimitri Kotov, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Dr. Kotov’s research expands on the theme of innate immune exacerbation of tuberculosis disease by continuing to study the role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells during infection and identifying additional mechanisms by which neutrophils and macrophages inhibit product responses against Mtb.

Jennie H. Kwon, DO, MSCI

Jennie H. Kwon, DO, MSCI

Associate Professor of Medicine, Section Director, Healthcare Epidemiology & Antimicrobial Stewardship

Dr. Kwon specializes in clinical and translational research with a focus on antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention.

Laura Marks, MD, PhD

Laura Marks, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Dr. Marks specializes in clinical infectious diseases with a special focus on infectious complications in people who inject drugs.

Mark J. Miller, PhD

Mark J. Miller, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Dr. Miller manages core operations, technical & scientific consultations , 2-photon imaging. His interests are in vivo imaging approaches to study cellular immunity, in particular cellular mechanisms of antigen presentation and leukocyte trafficking during infection and inflammation.

Ekansh Mittal, PhD

Ekansh Mittal, PhD

Instructor in Medicine

Dr. Mittal specializes in the intricate dynamics of host-pathogen interactions, with a particular emphasis on the innate immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).