Bacteriology | Letter to Prospective Students from Dr. Kaper
Bacteriology: Letter to Prospective Students from Dr. Kaper
Dear Prospective Graduate Student,
The study of infectious disease is a constantly evolving field that deals with the appearance of novel diseases emerging as new threats to humans, and the realization that some chronic diseases presumed to be non-infectious are actually infectious diseases. Some examples of bacterial diseases that have emerged or been recognized in recent years are Legionnaire's Disease, Toxic Shock Syndrome, hemolytic uremic syndrome caused by E. coli O157:H7, and gastric ulcer/cancer caused by Helicobacter pylori. As new infectious diseases emerge and old infectious agents acquire resistance to current antibiotics, research into the basic mechanisms by which bacteria cause disease is essential for the development of new vaccines and therapeutic interventions.
To understand how bacteria cause disease and how new pathogenic forms emerge one must study them at the molecular level. How can one species such as E. coli include beneficial strains of normal intestinal flora in healthy individuals yet also include strains that can cause life-threatening diseases of the intestine, kidney, or brain? How can one-third of the world's population be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis yet only a small percentage of these individuals exhibit active disease? How can some microbes such as Helicobacter pylori require years to produce overt disease yet other microbes such as Neisseria meningitidis cause death in a matter of hours? It is only at the molecular level - molecular genetics, molecular immunology, cell biology, and molecular epidemiology - that answers to these and other questions can be obtained.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine offers one of the strongest programs in the country for the study of molecular bacterial pathogenesis and vaccine development. In addition to the faculty members who hold primary academic appointments in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, there are many other investigators in the Center for Vaccine Development, the Division of Infectious Diseases, the Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, and the Dental School who hold appointments in this graduate program and contribute to the teaching and advising of graduate students in the program. Research on this topic among these groups ranges from very basic studies of pathogenic mechanisms to more applied studies of vaccine development to prevent infection and disease.
As you can see, there is a wide range of opportunities in our Program. We hope that you will consider these extraordinary opportunities to study bacterial pathogenesis in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
Sincerely yours,
James B. Kaper, Ph.D.
Chair and Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
Nicholas H. Carbonetti, Ph.D.
Director, Program in Molecular Microbiology and Immunolgy