Faculty Research & Directory

To gain research experience, many students participate in an Independent Study course taken for academic credit during the semester or over the summer. This opportunity is arranged on an individual basis with a faculty member.

Students should browse faculty research topics and projects, listed below, to identify areas of interest and then submit an Application for Independent Study form. A faculty member will then reach out with more information such as their laboratory focus, work you may be involved in, your level of commitment, and answers to any questions.

More than half of our faculty study infectious diseases and ways to mitigate their spread. Some of the current pressing topics being explored and taught in our undergraduate and graduate programs are fighting infectious diseases, climate change resiliency, and microbial-based production processes.

Browse our faculty and sort by their research and teaching interests below:

Photo of Michele Klingbeil

Parasitology, the replication and repair of mitochondrial DNA (kinetoplast DNA network) in African trypanosomes

Photo of Yasu Morita

Mycobacterial Pathogenesis: Glycobiology, Biochemistry, and Cell Biology

Mandy Muller

Herpesviruses, Viral-Host Interplay, RNA Biology

Molecular Evolution and Population Genomics of Arthropod-borne Microbial Pathogens

Bacterial Cell Walls

Photo of Wilmore Webley

Entry, survival, and host range of the obligate intracellular pathogens, Chlamydiaceae

Photo of Guang Xu

Research Professor