Jason F. Huntley, PhD

Biography

Jason Huntley, PhD, holds dual positions as senior associate dean of faculty affairs and faculty development at the Texas A&M College of Medicine and also as a Professor in the department of Microbial Pathogenesis & Immunology.

In his role as senior associate dean for faculty affairs and professional development, he is responsible for supporting and promoting faculty success from recruitment through retirement.  Faculty development and success initiatives at the Vashisht College of Medicine include faculty onboarding/orientation, junior and mid-career faculty mentoring, training in teaching effectiveness, training in personnel management, coordination of annual reviews, guidance and mentoring on promotion and tenure, engagement with shared governance, development of new and updating existing policies and guidelines, faculty equity and retention, and all other aspects of faculty support.

As a faculty member, Dr. Huntley conducts research studies on two important areas.  First, his laboratory studies the zoonotic disease tularemia, caused by the deadly bacterium Francisella tularensis.  Dr. Huntley’s lab has published studies identifying new F. tularensis membrane/envelope proteins, understanding how these proteins contribute to both tick colonization and human infections, and using this information to develop new tularemia vaccines.  Second, his laboratory also studies methods to remediate cyanobacteria (harmful algal bloom) toxins from drinking water.  He has identified and patented technologies to use naturally-occurring bacteria to remove and degrade cyanobacteria toxins from water.  Ongoing studies are focused on using these same bacteria as probiotics to mitigate toxin-mediated death in pets and livestock.

He comes to Texas A&M after 14 years at the University of Toledo, where he was a tenured professor of microbiology and, since 2022, associate dean of faculty affairs and development.