About Us
The Department of Microbiology is one of five basic science departments in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at The University of Iowa. The Department currently consists of 23 primary faculty, 7 secondary faculty (Internal Medicine, Pathology, Pediatrics, Urology), 4 non-tenure track faculty, and 3 adjunct faculty. Many are nationally and internationally recognized for their research. Over the past six years, one emeritus and two former faculty members have been inducted into the National Academy of Sciences based on a body of work that was developed primarily at The University of Iowa. In the past eight years, two faculty members have been recipients of the Merck Irving S. Sigal Memorial Award, and two faculty members have received the Procter & Gamble Award in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. These awards are given by the American Society for Microbiology. One faculty member is the current President of the American Association of Immunologists. Another faculty member has received the Distinguished Veterinary Immunologist Award from the International Union of Immunological Societies and the Distinguished Veterinary Immunology Award from the American Association of Veterinary Immunologists. Two faculty members were elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society. Another faculty member received the first University of Iowa Inventor of the Year Award. The faculty of the Department of Microbiology are active on departmental, collegiate and University committees. Many of the faculty members also serve on committees at the national and international levels, on industrial advisory boards and editorial boards. The success of the faculty is a tribute to the collegial atmosphere which predominates within the department.
The Department occupies over 47,000 sq ft of space in three adjacent buildings all on the University's Health Sciences Campus. Departmental laboratories are well-equipped for the pursuit of research, and our faculty members use a wide variety of experimental methodologies to address contemporary issues in microbiology and immunology. In addition to the broad range of departmental facilities, several core facilities are supported by the Carver College of Medicine and the University's Vice President for Research.
The Department offers a nationally recognized graduate training program. Formal training in microbiology dates back to 1938. The graduate program provides research opportunities for highly qualified, motivated students in the fields of bacterial pathogenesis, microbial genetics and physiology, virology, and immunology. Research is conducted in laboratories of independent, creative, and productive faculty members whose work is published in highly respected, peer-reviewed journals. The graduate training program is complemented by a weekly seminar series that brings outstanding scientists from around the country to the department. Weekly journal clubs, directed by members of the faculty, meet to present and critique the latest results from the scientific literature in microbiology and immunology. The Department is a leader in graduate training in microbiology, and graduates of the Department have gone on to distinguished careers in academia, industry, and government.