Microbiology and Immunology
Welcome to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology
The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is a part of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Our department is composed of outstanding faculty and excellent staff and has played many important roles in current research. Determined to encourage the academic and individual development of students and to promote the utmost degree of meaningful research, our faculty members guide students in their research studies throughout their degree programs. Graduate students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees have come to our department from all parts of North America and from around the globe including India, China, and Europe. We also accommodate an array of undergraduate students who participate in some of the research done in our laboratories. Since most of the research labs for the GSBS are in close proximity, we are presented with yet another opportunity to collaborate with fellow researchers and students. In combination with our department, Texas Tech University, and the Lubbock Community, we certainly provide incoming students with a diverse educational experience.
A Message From Our Department Chairman...
As we enter the 21st century, new means to treat infectious diseases and cancer are being developed and tested. Yet, the emergence of new pathogens and selective pressures that cause older pathogens to mutate and change will have a direct impact on human health. It is these issues as they relate to the pathogens associated with infectious diseases and how the host can control and resolve the infection and disease process that represent a major focus of existing research activities and new faculty recruitment. New activities address issues related to viral modalities to control the primary tumor and the potential for metastasis. The primary goal of this department is to train medical students and graduate students, both Ph.D. and M.S., in function and immunology of human diseases. Major research interests in the department include: microbial function, pathogenic mechanisms, immune system function, and cancer. The goals of these research activities are to impact human health by improving our knowledge of the pathogenic processes and to find new and novel instruments and tools to diagnosis and treat these diseases.
Ronald C Kennedy, PhD
Professor and Chairman
