People at Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology
Principal/Primary Faculty
Robert C. Alaniz, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Pathogen-specific T-cell Development during Mucosal Salmonella infection
Helene Andrews-Polymenis, DVM, PhD
Professor and Presidential Impact Fellow
Characterization of Salmonella enterica virulence genes
Carolyn Cannon, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Zhilei Chen, PhD
Associate Professor
Antiviral Discovery and Biotechnology
K. Yeon Choi, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Jeffrey D. Cirillo, PhD
Regents Professor
Molecular genetic analysis of bacterial respiratory pathogens
Paul de Figueiredo, PhD
Associate Professor
Molecular mechanisms mediating host-pathogen interactions, the evolution of pathogenesis, the discovery of novel anti-microbials, and the development of biotechnology platforms
David P. Huston, MD
Professor and Vice Dean - Houston campus
Immunobiology of Allergic Inflammation
Jenny Hyde, PhD
Assistant Professor
Pathogenic mechanisms and immune modulation of Borrelia burgdorferi, etiologic agent of Lyme disease
Julian Leibowitz, MD, PhD
Professor
Coronavirus replication and gene expression and the molecular basis of coronavirus pathogenesis
Alistair McGregor, PhD
Associate Professor
Herpes viruses, pathogenicity, vaccines and antivirals. Cytomegalovirus congenital infection.
Kristin Patrick, PhD
Assistant Professor
Regulation of RNA metabolism during bacterial infection
James Samuel, PhD
Regents Professor and Head
Wofford Cain Endowed Chair in Infectious Disease
Molecular pathogenesis and vaccine development for Q fever
Erin Van Schaik, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Jon Skare, PhD
Professor and Associate Head
Molecular pathogenesis of Lyme borreliosis
Jack Smith, MD, PhD
Professor
Biomedical Informatics Core, Clinical Science & Translational Research
Jianxun (Jim) Song, PhD
Professor
Cellular regulation of T cell immunity and tolerance
Vernon Tesh, PhD
Professor
Pathogenic mechanisms of Shiga toxins
Hongbin Wang, PhD
Professor
Biomedical Informatics Core, Clinical Science & Translational Research
E. Sally Ward, PhD
Research Professor
Antibody engineering for the therapy of cancer and autoimmunity
Robert O. Watson, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Host-pathogen interactions responsible for M. tuberculosis virulence
A. Phillip West, PhD
Assistant Professor
Mitochondrial regulation of immune responses in health and disease
Laura Ciaccia West, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Immune responses to cancer
Van Wilson, PhD
Professor
Molecular biology of papillomaviruses
Joint/Adjunct Faculty
Robert Chapkin, PhD
Regents Professor
Michael Criscitiello, PhD
Assistant Professor
Kevin Cummings, PhD
Assistant Professor
Jason Gill, PhD
Associate Professor
Bacteriophage Biology & Microbiology
Magnus Höök, PhD
Director, Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases
Interaction of pathogens with components of the extracellular matrix
Julian Hurdle, PhD
Associate Professor
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases
Arul Jayaraman, PhD
Associate Professor
Holder of the Ray Nesbitt Development Professorship
Amminikutty Jeevan, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Investigate whether ultraviolet radiation alters BCG vaccination-induced host resistance in the well-established guinea pig model of low dose pulmonary tuberculosis
Lan Ly, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Vaccine-induced resistance in the guinea pig model of tuberculosis
Katja Mertens, PhD
Assistant Professor
Margarita Martinez-Moczygemba, PhD
Assistant Professor
Cytokine signaling and eosinophil biology
Karen Newell-Rogers, PhD
Professor
Sunita Varghees, MD
Assistant Professor
Yi Xu, PhD
Assistant Professor
Bacteria and host interactions; bacterial pathogenesis; bacterial activation of the actin cytoskeleton; bacterial breaching of the mucosal barrier
Dekai Zhang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Molecular mechanisms of innate immune recognition
Emeritus Faculty
Roderick McCallum, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Community outreach programs to increase childhood vaccination rates
David McMurray, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Regulation of infectious disease resistance by vaccination and diet
John Quarles, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Antiviral vaccines and drugs and applications of flow cytometry in microbiology
Retired Faculty
Laura Hendrix, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Molecular pathogenesis of Bartonella spp
Research Staff
Karu Chockalingam
Research group: Chen
chockali2@tamu.edu
979.436.9407
Research Scientist
Jyotsana Gupta
Research group: De Figueiredo
jyotsanagupta@tamu.edu
979.436.0341
Associate Research Scientist
Prashant Jaiswal
Research group: Skare
pjaiswal@tamu.edu
979.436.0355
Assistant Research Scientist
Xiaofeng Kang
Research group: de Figueiredo
xfkang@tamu.edu
979.436.9013
Associate Research Scientist
Blake Meche
Research group: Samuel
meche@tamu.edu
979.436.0729
Research Associate
Robbie Moore
Research group: Alaniz
rmoore@tamu.edu
979.436.0840
Laboratory Coordinator
Yijie Ren
Research group: Song
ren@tamu.edu
979.436.0794
Research Assistant
Alexandria Jade Roberts
Research group: de Figueiredo lab
almroberts@tamu.edu
979.436.0358
Research Assistant
Sabona Simbassa
Research group: Cannon
simbassa@tamu.edu
979.436.0867
Research Assistant
Marissa Talamantes
Research group: Andrews-Polymenis
talamantes@tamu.edu
979.436.0341
Research Assistant
Pamela Ulloa-Franco
Research group: Patrick/Watson lab
ulloafranco@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0665
Research Assistant
Xiaofang (Ava) Xiong
Research group: Song
xxiong@tamu.edu
979.436.0794
Research Associate
Support Staff
Paula McCarver
Business Administrator I
979.436.0346
pmccarver@tamu.edu
LeeAnn Nichols
Administrative Coordinator I
979.436.0348
nichols@tamu.edu
Monica Ocon
Business Coordinator II
979.436.0347
mmocon@tamu.edu
Graduate Students
Ammar Abdullah
Research group: Cirillo
abdu1985@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0364
Ana Cabello Aguirre
Research group: deFigueiredo
acabello@cvm.tamu.edu
979.436.0358
Bhagath Chirra
Research group: Cannon
bhagath421@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0312
Nadia El-Hamdi
Research group: McGregor
nselhamdi@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0311
Sahar Eshghjoo
Research group: Alaniz
eshghjoo@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0840
Lauren Farris
Research Group: Hyde
lauren.farris@tamu.edu
979.436.0852
Alycia Fratzke
Research Group: Samuel
afratzke@cvm.tamu.edu
979.845.5941
Abby Lei
Research group: West
abbylei@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0839
Aravindh Nagarajan
Research group: Andrews-Polymenis
aravindh@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0341
Sylvia Torres Odio
Research group: West
torres.odio@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.9442
Hao Yun Peng
Research group: Song
haoyun0122@tamu.edu
979.436.0348
Alexandra Powell
Research group: Skare
adpowell@tamu.edu
979.862.5988
Haley Scott
Research group: Patrick
hms227@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0352
Allison Wagner
Research group: Patrick
allisonwagner@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0352
Liqing Wang
Research group: Song
wang1989@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0794
Kelsey Wells
Research group: de Figueiredo
kmwells@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0358
Kelsi West
Research group: Watson
kwest@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.0352
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Vanessa Ante
Research Group: Hyde
ante@tamu.edu
979.436.0871
Samantha Bell
Research Group: Watson
bell@tamu.edu
979.436.0367
Joshua Bryant
Research group: West
joshbryant@tamu.edu
979.436.9442
Elizabeth Case
Research Group: Samuel
ecase@tamu.edu
979.436.0351
Jugal Das
Research Group: Song
jugal@tamu.edu
979.436.0794
Mayukh Das
Research Group: deFigueiredo
mdas@tamu.edu
979.436.9013
Timothy Fitzsimons
Research Group: Watson
fitzsimons@tamu.edu
979.703.9408
Anthony Gregory
Research Group: Samuel
a.gregory@tamu.edu
979.436.0367
Anil Kumar
Research Group: Song
akumar@wihg.res.in
979.436.0790
Saugata Mahapatra
Research Group: Samuel
saugata@tamu.edu
979.436.0367
Madeleine Moule
Research Group: Cirillo
moule@tamu.edu
979.436.0366
Rudo Simeon
Research Group: Chen
rsimeon@exchange.tamu.edu
979.436.9494
Marie Southerland
Research Group: Cannon
southerland@tamu.edu
979.436.0867
Catherine Weindel
Research Group: Watson
chiweindel@tamu.edu
979.436.0273
Yu Zeng
Research Group: Chen
zyqshshl66@tamu.edu
979.436.9407
Dongmei Zhang
Research Group: de Figueiredo
dongmei@tamu.edu
979.436.9013