Research

Research Faculty

Michael J. Smith, MD, MSCE, Chief
Areas of interest: Pediatric antimicrobial stewardship, pediatric anti-infective and vaccine clinical trials

Ibukun Kalu, MD
Areas of interest: Pediatric infection control, neonatal infections

Daniel K. Benjamin, Jr., MD, PhD, MPH
Areas of interest: Multicenter pediatric anti-infective trials, neonatal infections

Michael Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD, PhD
Areas of interest: Safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials in infants and children

Dorothy E. Dow, MD, MScGH
Areas of interest: HIV maternal to child transmission, mental health in adolescents with HIV

Jillian Hurst, PhD
Areas of interest: Molecular mechanisms that promote signaling fidelity

Paul M. Lantos, MD
Areas of interest: Tropical and parasitic diseases, mosquito and tick-borne infections and travel medicine

Kathleen A. McGann, MD
Areas of interest: Treatment of HIV infection in children, medical education

M. Anthony Moody, MD
Areas of interest: Multicenter vaccine studies, development of novel adjuvants, response of the humoral immune system to vaccination and infection

Neeraj Surana, MD, PhD
Areas of interest: Microbiome science, gnotobiotic murine models, inflammation and infection

Emmanuel ("Chip") Walter, MD, MPH
Areas of interest: Pediatric and adult vaccines and vaccine safety

Selected Division Clinical Research

  • Pharmacokinetics of anti-infectives in pediatrics
  • Pediatric antimicrobial stewardship
  • Antifungal treatment of pediatric invasive candidiasis
  • Newer antifungal agents for invasive yeast and mold infections
  • Immune responses to novel vaccines
  • Evaluation of HIV vaccines in domestic as well as international settings 
  • Impact of mental health on antiretroviral medication adherence during adolescence

Selected Division Basic and Translational Research

  • Molecular and cellular determinants of uropathogenic E. coli infection
  • Evaluation of the pathogenic mechanisms of Aspergillus infection
  • Discovery of novel antifungals
  • ​Newer biomarkers for diagnosis of invasive candidiasis
  • Microbiome influence on hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients
  • Microbiome influence on the risk of pneumonia in African infants
  • Evaluation of maternal immune responses and protection against perinatal viral pathogens
  • Evaluation of virus variants that are transmitted placentally and via breastfeeding
  • Innate antiviral factors in breast milk
  • Maternal HIV-1 and CMV vaccine development
  • Infant HIV-1 vaccine development