It starts quietly, a bite or a scratch, and by the time symptoms surface, it’s often too late. Rabies isn’t just a distant threat—it’s alive and present here in Alabama.

Jan Novak, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology, has been named the Inaugural Holder of the Jiri Mestecky Endowed Professorship in Microbiology.

The UAB Department of Microbiology welcomed Hongjin Zheng, Ph.D., as associate professor in June 2025.

Taxonomy — classifying viruses into genus, species and so forth — has the power to affect public health

Fran Lund, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology and director of the UAB Immunology Institute, along with other UAB researchers, recently published a study in Immunity illustrating the crucial role a protein called T-bet plays in protecting the body’s immune response to influenza.

T-bet expression is required for persistence of memory B cells that have rapid differentiation potential to become antibody-producing plasma cells in response to a second infection.

For the first time in its history, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) will hold its annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, hosted by Elliot Lefkowitz, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology. 

How research enriches the medical school experience. Federico Prokopczuk is in his fourth year as an M.D./Ph.D. trainee.

The UAB Department of Microbiology is happy to welcome graduate students who have recently joined UAB Microbiology labs for their training.

Each year, rabies kills thousands of people worldwide, and it remains a silent threat right here in Alabama. Often transmitted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, this viral disease is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.

Besides their normal role, pump overexpression confers drug resistance. Knowing the structure is a step to disabling the pumps with inhibitors.

UAB is a stronghold at finding patients for studies, but healthy controls were harder.

The UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center recently announced five winners of the O’Neal Invests grant awards, two generously funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA).

You’re not the only one digesting your lunch—so are your microbes. Every time you eat, an entire ecosystem inside your gut gets to work, breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and boosting your immune system.

Kansas recently confirmed one of the largest Tuberculosis outbreaks in U.S. history.

The UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine recognized 15 faculty members for their outstanding contributions to research, education, and clinical care at the Spring 2025 Endowed Chairs and Professorships Reception.

The David E. Wells Memorial Symposium, a longstanding tradition in the UAB Department of Microbiology, will be held this year on May 21.

Eight members of the Department of Microbiology were recently recognized for 20-plus years of service to UAB at a Service Awards reception on April 8, 2025.

Elliot Lefkowitz, Ph.D., has pioneered a unique perspective at UAB on the study of viruses: analyzing them via computational techniques, otherwise known as bioinformatics. Lefkowitz and his eight-person lab play a critical role in providing tools to scientists around the world to aid them in analyzing data related to genomic sequences.

The UAB Department of Microbiology will welcome Barney Graham, M.D., Ph.D., as its keynote speaker for the 37th Bertram M. Marx Endowed Lecture on Monday, April 28, 2025, at 3 p.m.

John F. Kearney, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Endowed Professor in Immunology in the Department of Microbiology, will be honored for five decades of service to UAB on April 8.

UAB’s new Lunaphore COMET multiplex immunofluorescent platform can hyperplex up to 40 antibodies on a single pathology tissue sample.

Fran Lund, Ph.D., director of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine Immunology Institute, professor and Endowed Chair in Immunology in the Department of Microbiology, and senior scientist at the UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, was honored with the 2025 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award on Tuesday, March 18 at the UAB Alumni House.

Viruses constantly emerge and evolve, with some posing significant threats to human and animal health, while others remain confined to specific species. A recently identified example of the latter is the Camp Hill Virus (CHV), named after its discovery site in Camp Hill, Alabama.

The Heersink School of Medicine is proud to announce the 2025 recipients of its 1R01 Award. Securing extramural research funding is a very competitive process, and this award is a testament to these investigators’ groundbreaking research and dedication to advancing biomedical science.

A UAB microbiologist provides insights into how bacteria are widespread on various surfaces, ultimately debunking the five-second rule.

This innovative program addresses global health initiatives and medical training in Peru with Partners in Health, known locally as Socios En Salud, in Lima, Peru.

The UAB Department of Microbiology is a hub of groundbreaking research, tackling some of the most pressing challenges in the field. In the first part of this series, we explored how the department established itself as a leading force in microbiology, with pioneering contributions to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

Is eating food that has fallen to the floor ever truly safe? Many cling to the “five-second rule,” which asserts that if you pick up dropped food within five seconds of dropping it, it is safe to still eat.

Jason "Jay" Ashley, MBA, was announced as the new Joint Health Science Administrative Director ll in the UAB Department of Microbiology, effective Feb. 10, 2025.  Read More …