The Department of Microbiology and Immunology, in the School of Medicine, offers a program of study leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The Ph.D. program includes training in a broad range of research areas using state-of-the-art immunological, microbiological, and molecular technologies. A competitive stipend, health care benefits, a full waiver of tuition and fees are provided to all applicants accepted into the Ph.D. Program.

For admission to the Ph.D. program, the applicant must have attained a B.S or B.A. degree with a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 point scale).  In addition, the following should be submitted online directly to Graduate Admissions: http://graduate.louisville.edu/apply

• A completed application form and $60 application fee
• Official scores of the General Test Section of the Graduate Record Examination and the TOEFL (when applicable)
• Three letters of recommendation
• A brief statement of purpose describing interests and career goals
• A current resume or curriculum vitae
• Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work (mailed to Graduate Admissions)

The applicant must meet the other general requirements of the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies as outlined in the General Information section of this catalog.  The application deadline is March 1st each year. Submission prior to March 1 is strongly encouraged in order to ensure that all required materials (especially letters of reference) are received by the deadline. The applicant is expected to have completed the following undergraduate courses prior to admission to the Ph.D. program: One year of introductory biology, one year of organic chemistry, one year of physics, one semester (or equivalent ) of introductory calculus, and one semester of biochemistry.

Prospective students may be invited for a personal interview with members of the admissions committee and departmental faculty as part of the application process.

Required Courses:

Elective Courses:

Program of Study
Upon successful completion of the required course work, maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA, and upon the recommendation of the advisor or chair, the student may take the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. The Qualifying Examination will consist of a written research proposal outside of his/her area of primary research and oral defense of the project. Three to five faculty with expertise in the area of the proposal will be selected by the chair to serve as the Examining Committee. The student may enter degree candidacy upon receipt of satisfactory judgment from the Examining Committee and successful completion of the final semester of coursework.

Selection of a Research Advisor, Dissertation Committee and Research Proposal

Selection of the Research Advisor and specific research area is one of the most important decisions of the student’s entire graduate training program, and is a joint decision by the student and faculty member. Students must select a Research Advisor for their dissertation research by the end of their first year. Selection of the Research Advisor and formation of the Dissertation Committee must be approved by the Department Chair and the Dean of the School of Medicine (or their designees).  The potential advisor must agree, in writing, to provide stipend and candidacy fee support from his/her research funds, following fellowship support. Upon approval of the Research Advisor, the student will formally decide upon a dissertation research project. The student and Research Advisor will form a Dissertation Committee with five (5) graduate faculty members. The committee will be composed of the advisor, three faculty members of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and one additional graduate faculty member from another department. If the advisor does not have a primary appointment in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, one of the three other departmental members with a primary appointment in the department must serve as Co-Advisor. The Chairman of the Department may serve as an ex-officio member of the committee.

The committee will meet regularly to evaluate progress of the research(at least once per year). The student will also be required to present a research seminar to the department annually on this progress. When the dissertation research is completed, the committee will conduct the final oral examination in accordance with the guidelines in the General Information section of this catalog.

For more information go to the department website at:
http://www.louisville.edu/medschool/microbiology/

Yousef Abu Kwaik
Professor

Associate Professor

Haribabu Bodduluri
Professor

Paula Chilton
Assistant Professor

Dong Hoon Chung
Assistant Professor

James E. Graham
Associate Professor

Lawrence A. Hunt
Associate Professor

Venkatakrishna R. Jala
Assistant Professor

Colleen Johnson
Professor

Michele M. Kosiewicz
Associate Professor

Matthew Lawrenz
Assistant Professor

Richard D. Miller
Associate Professor

Thomas C. Mitchell
Associate Professor

Haval Shirwan
Professor 

Robert D. Stout
Professor

Uldis N. Streips
Professor

Jill Suttles
Professor

Jonathan Warawa
Assistant Professor

Esma Yolcu
Assistant Professor

Huang-Ge Zhang
Professor

School of Dentistry

G. Rafael Fernandez-Botran
Associate Professor Of Pathology And Laboratory Medicine

Henry Kaplan
Professor
Chairman, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

School of Dentistry

Mariusz Ratajczak
Professor
Dept. Of Medicine

Hui Shao
Joint Faculty Assistant Professor
Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Robert H. Staat
Professor of Biological and Biophysical Sciences
School of Dentistry

Douglas D. Taylor
Professor
Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 
Associate Faculty
 
William G. Cheadle
Professor
Dept. of Surgery

Suzanne Ildstad
Professor of Surgery
Director, Institute of Cellular Therapeutics

Gary S. Marshall
Professor
Dept. of Pediatrics

Kenneth McLeish
Professor
Dept. of Medicine
Kidney Disease Program

Susanna K. Remold
Associate Faculty
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology

School of Dentistry

James W. Snyder
Professor
Clinical Services, Dept. of Pathology

Matthew Spite
Assistant Professor of Medicine

James T. Summersgill
Professor
Div. of Infectious Diseases
Dept. of Medicine

Silvia M. Uriarte
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Kidney Disease Program

Micah Worley
Assistant Professor
Dept. Of Biology

Jun Yan
Associate Professor, Dept. of Medicine
James Graham Brown Cancer Center
 
Adjunct Faculty

Carl Bruder
Karolinska Institute
Stockholm, Sweden

Karen Cost
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Director, Clinical Immunology Laboratory

Nejat Egilmez
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
State University of New York(SUNY)

Anthony J. Janckila
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Technical Director, Special Hematology Laboratory
Department of Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center

Gerald Sonnenfeld
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Binghamton University

Dennis Taub
Director, Clinical Core Laboratory
Laboratory of Immunology
National Institute of Aging, NIH
 
Emeritus Faculty
 
Pinghui Liu
Professor