Providing a rich, collaborative environment engaged in the study of microbial biology
With a focus on emerging and neglected diseases, our department is interested in microbial pathogenesis, the study of how microbes interact with their hosts in ways that both cause or avoid disease, and how this knowledge can be used to improve human health.
Meet our faculty
Carolina Lopez, PhD
The Lopez lab studies how respiratory viruses interact with the body and cause disease
Sean Whelan, PhD
The Whelan lab studies gene expression and viral-host interactions in RNA viruses, including coronavirus/SARS-CoV-2 and Ebola
Shabaana Khader, PhD
The Khader lab studies pulmonary pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis
News
Nobel awarded to Charles Rice for hepatitis C discoveries at Washington University School of Medicine (Links to an external site)
The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists for groundbreaking research that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, an insidious and deadly blood-borne virus. One of those scientists – virologist Charles M. Rice, PhD – conducted his seminal work while on the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine.
Identifying emerging diseases focus of new international collaboration (Links to an external site)
School of Medicine researchers are establishing a new international collaboration that aims to help scientists prepare for the next pandemic and, perhaps, provide insight into the current one.
Lab-made virus mimics COVID-19 virus (Links to an external site)
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have developed a hybrid coronavirus that will enable more scientists to enter the fight against the pandemic. The scientists genetically modified a mild virus by swapping one of its genes for one from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.