Infectious Diseases

Research

Faculty

Name	Areas of Special Interest
Coleen K. Cunningham, MD, Chief	Treatment of pediatric HIV, prevention of perinatal HIV transmission, and HIV vaccine studies
Daniel Benjamin, MD, MPH, PhD	Multicenter pediatric anti-infective trials, neonatal infections
Ann Buchanan, MD, MPH	Basic research in HIV-infected children and the opportunistic infections they acquire
Dennis A. Clements, MD, PhD	Pediatric vaccine trials
Michael Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD	Safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials in infants
Robert P. Drucker, MD	General infectious diseases, medical education
Harmony Garges, MD	Consulting Associate
Ravi R. Jhaveri, MD	Basic pathogenesis of hepatitis C, clinical outcomes of hepatitis C infection
Paul M. Lantos, MD	Tropical and parasitic diseases, mosquito and tick-borne infections, and travel medicine, pediatric and adolescent HIV/AIDS
Kathleen A. McGann, MD	Treatment of HIV infection in children, medical education
Ross E. McKinney, MD	Clinical research in treatment of Pediatric HIV infection
M. Anthony Moody, MD	Study and design of HIV-1 and influenza vaccines, development of novel adjuvants, response of the humoral immune system to vaccination and infection
Sallie Permar, MD, PhD	Clinical research in HIV and CMV transmission, especially in breastfeeding.
Patrick C. Seed, MD, PhD	Molecular and cellular determinants of uropathogenic E. coli infection
Joseph St. Geme, III, MD	Haemophilus influenzae pathogenesis and vaccine development
William J. Steinbach, MD	Clinical and basic research in invasive fungal infections, with primary interest in Aspergillus pathogenesis
Emmanuel B. Walter, MD	Vaccine research in the Pediatric Primary Care Division, pediatric travel, international adoption
Samuel L. Katz, MD, emeritus	Pediatric vaccines, vaccine delivery in low resource settings
Catherine Wilfert, MD, emeritus	Treatment of HIV-infected children, prevention of mother to child HIV transmission in resource limited settings

Research Staff

Lab of Sallie Permar, MD, PhD
Name	Areas of Special Interest
Josh Amos	Research Analyst with expertise and interest in analysis of virus-specific B and T cell responses elicited during vaccination and infection in both human and nonhuman primate studies
Genevieve Fouda	Post-doctoral Fellow with expertise and interest in assessing the role of pathogen-specific antibody responses relevant to the setting of mother to child transmission
Tatenda Mahlokozera	Research Technician with interest and expertise in studying the virologic and immunologic factors associated with postnatal HIV transmission

Lab of Patrick Seed, MD, PhD
Name	Areas of Special Interest
Zarine Balsara, MD, PhD	Resident in Urology studying the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection with spinal cord disability and the development of non-antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent the development of recurrent UTI
Stacey Prow Bateman	Graduate student in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology studying the role of the Fim recombinases in the epigenetic regulation of E. coli virulence during urinary tract infection and the role of the PAI-X genomic island in E. coli pathogenicity
Carolos Goller, PhD	Post-doctoral Associate elucidating the function of the sialic acid regulator NanR as a regulator of E. coli virulence during UTI and using chemical genetics to identify inhibitors of polysaccharide capsule biogenesis and consequences of inhibition on E. coli UTI
Mariam Susan LaTuga, MD	Clinical Fellow in Neonatology conducting research to understand the development of the gut-associated microbiome in very low birth weight babies
Akul Patel	Undergraduate student elucidating the DNA binding specificity of HyxR, a LuxR-family transcriptional regulator of the E. coli pathogenicity island PAI-X.
Tiffany Prest	Graduate student in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology conducting research to elucidate the role of polysaccharde capsule in intracellular replication of E. coli during urinary tract infection and the role of sialic acid as a regulator of E. coli virulence in vivo
Carla Ransom, MD	Clinical Fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine studying the mechanisms of adherence of Ureaplasma parvum to the fetal membranes and the role of U. parvum in preterm labor and premature rupture of membranes

Lab of William Steinbach, MD
Name	Areas of Special Interest
Jarrod Fortwendel, PhD	Post-doctoral Associate conducting research on Aspergillus fumigates pathogenesis
Praveen Juvvadi, PhD	Senior Research Associate conducting research on Aspergillus fumigates pathogenesis

Clinical Research

Evaluation of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Treatment of HIV and co-infections
Evaluation of HIV vaccines in domestic as well as international settings
Development and testing of candidate Tb and HIV vaccines
Virulence factors in Hepatitis C

Basic Research

Bacterial Pathogenesis

Haemophilus influenzae pathogenesis and vaccine development
Molecular and cellular determinants of uropathogenic E. coli infection

Fungal Pathogenesis

Evaluation of the pathogenic mechanisms of Aspergillus infection.

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials have an important role in the improvement of health care for children; therefore, we consider it important to educate all patients about clinical trials. All children eligible for enrollment into a clinical trial will have that trial discussed with the parents or guardian and, when appropriate, with the patient. There are a large number of ongoing clinical trials in the areas of HIV treatment, prevention and long-term complications. In addition, there are ongoing trials of anti-HSV medications, anti-fungal medications and other clinical trials.