Infection Biology covers a wide range of scientific areas, from studies of the host response to microbial pathogens, to the basic biology of the microbes themselves, to development of drugs and other approaches to combat infection.
The Charge
The Infection Biology Task Force will develop a strategic plan that includes recommendations to influence future recruitment, graduate training, and infrastructure investments for the coming years. While the plan will focus on investments on the Ithaca campus, the task force includes key participants from Weill Cornell Medicine in order to further unify our campuses academically and take advantage of aggregate strengths in fundamental and clinical aspects of infection biology to develop greater collaborations and multi-investigator proposals. The task force will shape and strengthen programs in microbiology, virology, immunology, immunotherapy, as well as related areas of basic and applied biology. The planning exercise should be completed within the 2016-17 academic year, and it is anticipated that the task force will play a critical, ongoing role in coordinating and facilitating recruitments, fostering collaborations, and implementing other aspects of the recommendations.
| Name | Field |
|---|---|
| Avery August | Microbiology and Immunology |
| Ilana Brito | Biomedical Engineering |
| Alan Collmer | Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology |
| John Helmann | Microbiology |
| Brian Lazzaro | Entomology; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
| Saurabh Mehta | Nutritional Sciences |
| Chris Myers | Physics |
| Kyu Rhee | Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine |
| Brian Rudd | Microbiology and Immunology |
| David Russell | Microbiology and Immunology |
| Kelly Zamudio | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
Outcomes
As of 2019, the Infection Biology task force has concluded its work, culminating in the creation of the Cornell Center for Immunology. You can find a comprehensive review of its findings and recommendations in the Final Report (PDF).