Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Introduction to the Department

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is a basic science department in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is one of five campuses in the University of Arkansas system and is the focus of medical education and research in the state of Arkansas. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is the only such department in the state and is the only program in Arkansas offering advanced degrees specifically in microbiology and immunology.

The Department has as its major objectives the education of medical students in medical microbiology and immunology, the training of graduate students to be productive research scientists, and the pursuit of basic and applied research in pathogenic microbiology and immunology. It is this latter objective which is the driving force of the Department and makes possible the education of outstanding graduate students who continue on to productive research careers.

The Department boasts several federally and industrially funded research programs in the study of microbial pathogenesis and genetics of important bacterial and viral pathogens, including Staphylococcus , Chlamydia , Mycobacteria , Herpes virus, coronavirus, picornovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus. Research in immunology includes funded research programs in tumor immunology and immunotherapy, mechanisms of autoimmunity and tolerance, allergy, immune senescence, the effect of environmental toxicants and drugs of abuse on the immune response, and the role of the immune response in infectious diseases.  

Sources of funding for Department research include the NIH, American Cancer Society, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, Arthritis Foundation, Arkansas Science and Technology Association, and the pharmaceutical industry.