Microbiology, Immunology & Infectious Disease
About Us
The Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease Research Area conducts innovative basic research in the areas of cellular and molecular mechanisms of infectious disease, as well as the immune response and microbe-host interaction.
- We seek to understand the biology of microbial signaling systems, exploitation of host cell functions by pathogenic organisms, and mechanisms of protective host immune responses to infections.
- The model microorganisms used in our research are important pathogenic agents of humans, animals and plants. Examples include Legionella, Salmonella, E. coli, Agrobacterium, herpesviruses, togaviruses and flaviviruses.
The group fosters high quality scholarship and provides interdisciplinary undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainings in cellular and molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases and other aspects of microbiology, with numerous collaborative opportunities across the Colleges of Science, Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture.
Our on-campus involvement includes a variety of centers, such as the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease (PI4D), the Bindley Bioscience Center, Markey Center for Structural Biology, the Genomics Center and the Energy Center, and with faculty from across campus involved in the Purdue University Life Science (PULSe) graduate program.
Our research is supported by grants from the NIH, the NSF, and other extramural and intramural funding agencies.
Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease News
- Discovery provides path to pathogen-targeted antibiotics
- New Avenue for Parkinson’s Disease Research
- Mattoo lab’s CryoAPEX technology highlighted by Science magazine!
- These molecules could trap viruses inside a cell
- Mattoo lab develops a new cell biology tool called CryoAPEX
- Zhao-Qing Luo elected as a Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology.