infectious disease
Innovating to understand, model, and mitigate threats
When the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted infectious disease research into the public spotlight, UT experts were ready to contribute valuable insights. Since then, UT has continued to strengthen and expand our capacity to understand and combat viral, bacterial, parasitic, and vector-borne infectious diseases.
UT’s interdisciplinary experimental and computational research builds knowledge at multiple scales, from molecular mechanisms up to global populations. Ultimately, it informs data-driven public health policies, education, interventions, and drug and vaccine development.
UT’s Approach
Faculty study molecular mechanisms involved in bacterial colonization and infections. As bacterial resistance to antimicrobials continues to increase and threaten lives around the world, UT researchers seek to understand and mitigate the emergence of resistance, particularly in agricultural communities. Their work, which contributes to UT’s Precision Health and Environment scholarship community, informs strategies to reduce bacterial transmission from animals to humans.
UT researchers also study infectious disease vectors—including ticks, mosquitoes, and other arthropods—and the pathogens they carry, including tick-borne bacteria that cause human anaplasmosis and the parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii. They delve into evolution and genetics, vector-pathogen-host interactions, and the ecological and epidemiological factors that influence disease emergence and transmission across geographies and species. Their work guides public health interventions and creates new possibilities for vaccines that prevent vector-borne disease transmission.
At the intersection of chronic and infectious diseases, UT researchers are revealing new insights into how autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and obesity disrupt immune responses to infection.
Looking forward, UT faculty seek to protect the nation from the human and economic costs of future pandemics. They have contributed to new multidisciplinary frameworks for understanding viral transmission and predicting outbreaks. Together, these efforts aim to strengthen capacity for pandemic preparedness.
“We study population genetics of pathogens to ultimately gain insights into transmission patterns. How does human migration carry pathogens to other parts of the world? If there’s an outbreak, where did it come from? Genetic information helps you see where pathogens start and how they spread.”
— Chunlei Su, Professor of Microbiology
Highlights
Facilities & Initiatives
Advanced computational and experimental facilities across UT provide the infrastructure for studying infectious diseases.
- AI Tennessee
- Biorepository and Integrative Genomics (BIG) Initiative
- Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases & Human Health
- Infrastructure for Scientific Applications and Advanced Computing
- Precision Health and Environment Cluster Hire Initiative
- UT College of Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory Services
- UT One Health Initiative
Researchers
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Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Human exposome, environmental health, environmental microbiology, indoor environment, microbiome, microbial source tracking, metagenomics, water quality, microbial contamination, infection prevention, public health
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Professor, School of Natural Resources and Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences
One Health, food/nutrition insecurity, loss of biodiversity, climate change impacts, impacts of anthropogenic stressors, wildlife, pathology, conservation, amphibians, sea turtles
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Professor and Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Veterinary Medicine
Health disparities, spatial epidemiology, geographic information systems, health geography, population health, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, antimicrobial resistance, public health, social determinants of health