NC State Infectious Disease Research

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

CVMResearchOffice@ncsu.edu P: 919.513.6213

Biosafety Level 3 Biocontainment Facility The NC State CVM provides areas for a Biosafety Level 3 Biocontainment Facility with three work spaces built around biosafety cabinets. The BSL3 Biocontainment Facility follows strict federal regulations with local oversight provided by the NC State Institutional Biosafety Committee. These and other factors assure the community that infectious disease research will not result in occupational hazards for occupants of the research building. The BSL3 Biocontainment Facility is available for use by the NC State community.

For more information about the BSL3 Biocontainment Facility: Henry Marr Email: hsmarr@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-0778 cvm.ncsu.edu/research/labs/bsl3

Glen Almond Professor, Swine Health & Production Management

DVM: Ontario College, Guelph, Canada PhD: North Carolina State University Clinical Specialty: Reproductive physiology, urogenital disease and interactions between disease and growth Research Interest: The research addresses specific concerns in the pork industry. Topics include interactions between stress and immune function, reproduction, water medications and infectious agents. The research depends on collaboration with colleagues at the NC State CVM, Department of Animal Science and on cooperation by swine practitioners, pork producers and allied industries.

Contact Email: glen_almond@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6370

Adam Birkenheuer Professor, Internal Medicine

DVM: University of Florida PhD: Michigan State University Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Clinical Specialty: Small animal internal medicine Research Interest: The primary focus of our lab is tick-borne diseases. My goal is to advance our understanding of companion animal infectious diseases and conduct research that directly benefits dogs and cats.

Contact Email: adam_birkenheuer@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6193

Luke Borst Associate Professor, Veterinary Anatomic Pathology

DVM: University of Illinois PhD: University of Illinois Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Pathologists Clinical Specialty: Anatomic pathology Research Interest: Our lab is interested in understanding the pathogenesis of streptococci and enterococci. Currently, we are working on identifying virulence mechanism in pathogenic Enterococcus cecorum, an important pathogen of broiler chickens.

Contact Email: luke_borst@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-8287

Ed Breitschwerdt The Melanie S. Steele Distinguished Professorship in Medicine Professor, Internal Medicine

DVM: University of Georgia Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Clinical Specialty: Infectious disease Research Interest: Our research focuses on enhanced diagnosis as well as the treatment and prevention strategies for vector borne infectious diseases of animals and humans.

We have focused our research efforts on Babesia, Bartonella, Borrelia, Ehrlichia and Rickettsia species.

Contact Email: ed_breitschwerdt@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-8277

Benjamin Callahan Assistant Professor, Microbiomes and Complex Microbial Communities

PhD: University of California, Santa Barbara Research interests: Our research focuses on microbiomes, the complex microbial communities which inhabit and interact with almost every part of the world around us. I develop bioformatic methods to more accurately characterize microbial communities and apply them to the study of the microbial contribution to various health problems such as preterm birth. I am also interested in the process of adaptation within microbial populations, such the acquisition of antimicrobial resistance or changes in how microbes alter their environment.

Contact Email: bcallah@ncsu.edu

Paula Cray Department Head, Population Health and Pathobiology

MS: North Dakota State University PhD: University of Nebraska Executive Certificate: U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Leadership Education and Development Program Research Interest: Infectious disease Contact Email: pjcray@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6440

Elisa Crisci Assistant Professor

DVM: University of Bologna, Italy MS: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain PhD: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain Research Interest: Our research focuses on respiratory viral infections in pigs. We want to better understand the virus-host interface and the specific innate immune responses that drive the disease outcome. We use cellular, molecular and genomic technologies to investigate cell signaling pathways in porcine primary lung immune cells and to study the viral replication in target cells. We promote the use of pig as gold standard animal model for human research.

Contact Email: ecrisci@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6255

John Cullen Professor, Anatomic Pathology

VMD: University of Pennsylvania PhD: University of California, Davis Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Pathology Clinical Specialty: Hepatic pathology Research Interest: Our lab is interested in viral hepatitis with an emphasis on human models of the infection. I have worked with models of hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. I am also interested in select animal viruses that cause liver injury.

Contact Email: jcullen@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-7720

Johanna Elfenbein Assistant Professor, Equine Medicine

DVM: University of Florida PhD: Texas A&M University Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Clinical Specialty: Large animal internal medicine Research Interests: The focus of our lab is the interaction between zoonotic pathogen Salmonella and the host. We use genetic and molecular biology techniques to understand how Salmonella colonizes the intestine and how it influences the host immune response.

Our work has identified numerous different Salmonella factors that are critical for Salmonella to colonize the intestine and thus represent novel targets for antimicrobial development.

Contact Email: jrelfenb@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-1780

Derek Foster Assistant Professor, Ruminant Health Management

DVM: North Carolina State University PhD: North Carolina State University Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Clinical Specialty: Gastrointestinal physiology, antimicrobial use in food Research Interest: Our lab is primarily interested in infectious gastrointestinal diseases of farm animals and people.

Contact Email: derek_foster@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6128

Isabel Gimeno Associate Professor, Poultry Health Management

MSc: Universidad Complutense de Madrid DVM: Universidad Complutense de Madrid PhD: Universidad Complutense de Madrid Diplomate: American College of Poultry Veterinarians Clinical Specialty: Marek’s disease and differential diagnosis with other tumor poultry diseases Research Interests: Marek’s disease, avian tumor viruses and herpes viruses, immunosuppressive disease of poultry, poultry immunology and pathology Contact Email: isbabel_gimeno@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6852

Jody Gookin FluoroScience Distinguished Professor in Veterinary Scholars Research Education Professor, Internal Medicine

DVM: University of California, Davis PhD: North Carolina State University Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Medicine Clinical Specialty: Small animal gastroenterology, feline medicine Research Interest: My primary focuses are gastroenterology, infectious causes of diarrhea that are of shared importance to veterinary and human medicine and epithelial-pathogen interactions Contact Email: jody_gookin@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6295

James Guy Professor, Anatomic Pathology

DVM: University of Tennessee, Knoxville PhD: University of Tennessee, Knoxville Research Interest: His research focus is on viruses that adversely affect poultry production, including the study of infectious laryngotracheitis, turkey coronaviral enteritis, alphavirus-induced reproductive failure in turkeys, Marek’s disease virus-induced immune suppression and proventriculitis in broiler chickens.

Contact Email: jsguy@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6287

Megan Jacob Assistant Professor and Director of Diagnostic Laboratories

MS: Kansas State University PhD: Kansas State University Clinical Specialty: Clinical microbiology Research Interest: I am focused on epidemiology and ecology of foodborne pathogens at public livestock interactions, microbial biofilm and antimicrobial resistance.

Contact Email: megan_jacob@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6236

Tobias Kaeser Assistant Professor, Swine Immunology

PhD: Institute of Immunology, Vetmeduni Vienna Research Interest: My vision is establishing a lab providing state-of-the-art immune response analyses covering all three branches of the immune system: the innate, the humoral and the cellmediated. The focus is on antigen-specific immune responses and will create a precise detection system for the most relevant pig and human pathogens including C. suis and C. trachomatis to complete the analysis of the host-pathogen interactions.

Contact Email: tekaeser@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6352

Cristina Lanzas Assistant Professor, Infectious Disease

MS: Cornell University VMD: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona PhD: Cornell University Research Interest: We are primarily focused on infectious disease epidemiology and modeling.

We combine data, epidemiological analysis and mathematical and computational approaches to study transmission mechanisms and interventions.

Contact Email: clanzas@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6202

Jennifer Luff Assistant Professor

BS: Cornell University VMD: University of Pennsylvania PhD: University of California at Davis Research Interest: My overall research program focuses on virally driven cancers in domestic animals, with particular interest in papillomavirus infection and squamous cell carcinoma. One of my research projects is focused on viral immunity and the interferon response in the skin. I am interested in learning the different innate immune pathways involved in viral recognition in canine keratinocytes, the target cell for papillomavirus infections, and the mechanisms behind how papillomaviruses can dampen the immune response to escape detection.

Contact Email: jaluff@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-8009

Xinxia Peng Associate Professor

PhD: University of Tennessee Research Interests: I am interested in highthroughput omics data analysis, method development, and its application in infectious disease and immunology. Other interests include noncoding RNA, immunity and target identification; microbiome, immunity and vaccine efficacy; complex immune genes; genetic variation and transcriptional regulation; Genomics for infections disease animal models, including non-human primates and ferrets.

Contact Email: xpeng5@ncsu.edu Office: 919-515-4481

Barbara Sherry Professor, Virology

PhD: University of Wisconsin, Madison Research Interest: We study viral infections of the heart to better understand the virus-host interface and cardiac-specific responses that determine disease outcomes. We use molecular, cellular and genomic technologies to study viral replication and activated cell signaling pathways in a mouse model and in primary cardiac cell cultures.

Contact Email: barbara_sherry@ncsu.edu Office: 919-515-4480

Andy Stringer Clinical Assistant Professor, Director, Global Health Education Director, Global Health Initiative (NC State) PhD: University of Liverpool MRCVS: Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Clinical Specialties: Global health, poverty reduction, food security and implementation science Research Interest: I am the founder and principal investigator of the Health and Livelihoods Group (healgroup.org). The HEAL Group studies a range of issues focused on the interface of health and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa utilizing a one health approach. We combine approaches from the biological and social sciences to understand the determinants of health and their relationships with livelihoods. The equine interest of the HEAL Group focuses on the interface of working equids and human livelihoods, including the impact of infectious disease on working equids.

Contact Email: apstring@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-6275

Siddhartha “Sid� Thakur Associate Professor

DVM: Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India MS: Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India PhD: North Carolina State University Research Interest: With a molecular epidemiology background, our research focus is on antimicrobial resistance in bacterial foodborne pathogens at the interface between animals, humans and the environment. We study the dissemination and persistence of antimicrobial resistant bacterial strains at the national and global scale.

Contact Email: sthakur@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-0729

Casey M. Theriot Assistant Professor

PhD: North Carolina State University Research Interest: We are identifying the roles of gastrointestinal tract microbiome and metabolome in shaping colonization resistance against Clostridium difficile as well as C. difficile physiology and pathogenesis. Other research includes metabolism of bile acids by indigenous gastrointestinal microbiota.

Contact Email: cmtherio@ncsu.edu Office: 919-513-0711

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

Ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine is a driving force in both animal and human health and a global center of medical excellence.

Our world-leading faculty and clinicians are at the forefront of interdisciplinary biomedical innovation, conducting solution-driven research that defines the interconnection between animal and human health.

Our extensive partnerships with business, industry and government build a culture of collaboration that helps solve today’s most pressing health challenges. As the national leader in experiential teaching and learning, we are training the next generation of skilled, compassionate veterinary health professionals equipped to serve the global community.

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