Infectious Disease

Christine Anterasian, MD 
Acting Assistant Professor, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital 

Dr. Anterasian’s research is focused on tuberculosis and understanding the innate immune response to infection.  She is interested in identifying novel pathways in host defense against M. tuberculosis that can inform the development of host-directed therapeutics. Additionally, Dr. Anterasian is interested in developing new diagnostics for infant tuberculosis and studies infant genetics and cytokine responses to tuberculosis and BCG vaccine. Dr. Anterasian research combines systems biology, genetics, and immunoassays approaches to advance our understanding of the host immune response to tuberculosis. 

Dr. Anterasian also attends on the inpatient Infectious Diseases service at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Outside the hospital, she enjoys running, hiking, skiing, and spending time with her partner (and three dogs!). 
 

John Aitchison, PhD
Co-Director, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Professor, Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor, Biochemistry, University of Washington. 

The Aitchison lab focuses on the development and application of systems biology approaches to combat infectious diseases. Most recently, his group established the proof concept that virus infection induces vulnerabilities in infected cells that can be selectively targeted by drugs to kill virally infected cells and curtail viral replication. The Keck Foundation, which supports “projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field” awarded the Aitchison lab, in collaboration with Dr. Shuyi Ma,  a research grant to expand on their initial findings, and develop the strategy for broad utility in host-based antiviral therapeutics. 
 

Bryan P Brown, PhD
Acting Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine

Dr. Brown’s research has focused on three main areas: (1) elucidating the effect of exclusive breastfeeding on infant gut bacterial succession patterns and immunity; (2) identifying how infant gut bacterial and viral communities are altered by maternal disease, and how these communities shape responses to vaccination, and (3) how contraceptives alter the bacterial microbiota and immunity of the female reproductive tract. His work has helped define microbial changes preceding inflammation in the infant gut. Recently, Dr. Brown’s work has also identified mechanisms by which a nonhormonal copper intrauterine device inhibits the growth of healthy vaginal bacteria and enables nonoptimal bacteria and inflammation to persist, as part a clinical trial conducted in Africa.

Outside of the lab, he enjoys alpine rock and ice climbing, backcountry skiing, backpacking, and brewing a good cup of joe.

Rhea Coler, M.Sc, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine; Senior Investigator, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research (CGIDR); Adjunct Professor, Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Member Brotman Baty Institute.

Dr. Coler has focused on three main areas: 1) Advancing tuberculosis (TB) vaccine platforms and models, 2) Blood processing and clinical immunology secondary endpoint and exploratory assays for VTEU, IDCRC and Biotech-funded trials to evaluate vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, Schistosoma mansoni,  and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 3) Nontuberculous mycobacteria vaccine development.

Dr. Coler’s research has contributed to the invention of the M72/AS01e and ID93+GLA-SE – lead TB vaccine candidates. Dr. Coler’s clinical trials include prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for a variety of infectious disease pathogens including tuberculosis, SARS-CoV-2, influenza and schistosomiasis.

Outside of the University, Dr. Coler enjoys spending time with her family and friends, cooking, traveling and scuba diving.

Janet Englund, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Englund’s research interests include the study of the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of viral respiratory diseases in children, pregnant women, and immunocompromised hosts. She studies new viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 with the Seattle Flu Study, as well as respiratory vaccines and novel methods of antiviral therapy for respiratory viruses including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Dr. Englund has been a coinvestigator in maternal immunization studies with influenza vaccines in Nepal and RSV vaccines in Seattle.  As a Clinical Associate at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, she is actively involved in transplant-related protocols with Drs. Michael Boeckh, Chikara Ogimi, and Alpana Waghmare studying the prevention, treatment, and outcome of respiratory viral diseases in transplant recipients of all ages. Dr. Englund’s research group at Seattle Children’s Hospital is part of the New Vaccine Surveillance Network of the Centers for Disease Control since 2010, participating in respiratory and gastrointestinal viral surveillance in collaboration with Dr. Eileen Klein, Pediatric Emergency Department. Dr. Englund and her research team are actively involved in studies of new respiratory vaccines including COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine effectiveness, including vaccines for the prevention of RSV in infants, children, and pregnant women. Studies run by Drs. Englund and Waghmare include evaluation of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for children ages 6 months-11 years, and immunocompromised children ages 2-17 years.  Her group is also studying methods to diagnose and characterize viral respiratory diseases including SARS-CoV-2, including serological evaluation.  Dr. Englund is a frequent speaker at national and international meetings, and active in national and international organizations. She is past member of the WHO Influenza working group, and a current member of the Influenza Working Group and SARS-CoV-2 Diagnosis Working Group of the Infectious Disease Society of America. 
 

Yasaman Fatemi, MD, MSHP 
Assistant Professor, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital 

Dr. Fatemi’s scholarly work focuses on diagnostic test stewardship and diagnostic error through a combination of quality improvement methodology and qualitative research. She is also very interested in graduate medical education, particularly curriculum development and program evaluation.  
Her clinical time includes inpatient Infectious Diseases consultation and the outpatient Infectious Diseases clinic. In addition, Dr. Fatemi serves as an Associate Medical Director for Infection Prevention at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, exploring art museums, and going to ballet and symphony performances.

Lisa M. Frenkel, MD
Professor of Pediatrics and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Member Division of Infectious Diseases and Co-Director of Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s (SCRI) Center for Global Infectious Disease Research.

Over the past 30 years, our group has conducted research projects in Peru, Thailand, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. In close concert with our collaborators our studies have aimed to address practical questions related to the prevention of HIV-1 infection in infants, mechanisms leading to shedding of virus in breast milk and genital tract of adults, treatment of drug-resistant virus in children and adults and understanding mechanisms underlying the persistence of HIV infection despite effective antiretroviral treatment. Additionally, we have developed economical assays with the goal of making testing accessible to resource-poor communities, to improve the management of HIV infection.

When studying transmitted resistance from HIV-infected mothers to their children, our group noted a series of errors that refuted the concept of transient HIV infection occurring in infants (Frenkel et al. Science, 1998; PMID9582120). Our findings in this study cemented the importance of meticulous Laboratory Quality Assurance in our research and clinical work. Our group has operated a CLIA Laboratory for >17 years primarily performing assays NIH IMPAACT Network.

Our laboratory located within SCRI found evidence and later provided proof that proliferating cells have a major role in sustaining the HIV reservoir despite effective treatment (J Virol 2005, PMID16014925) (Science 2014, PMID25011556). More recently we have shown that HIV-infected clones fueling persistent low-level viremia and rebound viremia following ART suspension (PLoS Pathog 2020, PMID32841299). We described that HIV is integrated disproportionately into genes that control immune functions, the cell cycle, cancers or pathways controlling T-regulatory cells (J Infect Dis 2017, PMID28520966), which led to current projects investigating HIV reservoirs effects on CD4 cell function (J Immunol 2022 PMID35264460) and current projects focused on (1) integrated virus effects on high-risk HPV cervical infections, and (2) immune tolerance in HIV infected infants.

Our research on HIV drug resistance has defined reservoirs and effects of mutant codons (Clin Infect Dis 2010, PMID20377404) and the utility of point mutation assays in screening to diagnose HIV drug resistance (Lancet HIV 2019, PMID32386719). Our current studies aim to (1) define the mutant codons associated with failure of dolutegravir-based treatments, (2) develop inexpensive assays to detect these mutations in low-resource settings and (EBioMedicine 2019 PMID31767540 and AIDS 2020 PMID32205723), and (3) define the risk of genotypic HIV resistance for mother-to-child HIV transmission and treatment outcomes (Clin Infect Dis 2021, PMID34467974).

For a listing of our published research please access MyBibliography.

Benjamin Gern, MD
Acting Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; Principal Investigator, Center for Global Infectious Diseases, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

The Gern lab focuses on the characterizing spatially organized host-pathogen interactions, with a particular focus on the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which kills 1.5 million people per year. Unfortunately, the limited efficacy of the only licensed tuberculosis vaccine (BCG) and the need for challenging, prolonged antibiotic treatment hamper our efforts to combat this deadly pandemic. To develop improved vaccines and treatments to combat tuberculosis, we need a better understanding of what is happening at the epicenter of infection: the pulmonary granuloma. To better understand the events within this epicenter of infection, the Gern Lab investigates host-pathogen interactions within the granuloma, with the ultimate goal of informing the design of improved treatments and vaccines. We utilize a combination of physiologic mouse models, human tissues, advanced immunologic tools, and cutting-edge quantitative imaging. In so doing, we have uncovered a dominant factor (TGFβ) that limits immunity within the granuloma, gained insight into aspects of the early events of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, and characterized organizational features of tuberculous granulomas. We have also begun to characterize how different inflammatory responses lead to the wide range of pathologic structures that are a feature of tuberculosis disease. In the future, we have plans to test whether these processes are present in human granulomas and explore whether we can use treatments to shape these processes and improve infection outcomes.

Christoph Grundner, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains the most deadly bacterial pathogen, and rampant drug resistance requires renewed efforts to find new and better therapies. At the core of Mtb’s success as a pathogen lies its ability to sense and adapt to host cues, in particular through sensor protein kinase signaling. The Grundner lab maps these signaling pathways and determines their role in Mtb physiology. These studies provide fundamental insight into Mtb biology and identify new targets for therapeutic interference. Because the Mtb Ser/Thr kinases are related to eukaryotic kinases, we repurpose the extensive pharmaceutical resources developed for targeting human kinases for use against Mtb. A major bottleneck in Mtb research on every level is the large number of genes with unknown function in the Mtb genome. Determining protein function is currently exceedingly slow and proceeds one protein at a time. To scale functional annotation to the level of other -omics approaches, we use activity-based protein profiling combined with mass spectrometry towards high-throughput identification of functions for these unknown proteins. These new tools allow probing of even the most divergent enzyme space and provide a more complete understanding of the genomic dark matter of Mtb.
 

Whitney Harrington, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; Principal Investigator, Center for Global Infectious Diseases, Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Dr. Harrington’s research focuses on intergenerational immune interactions and their effect on susceptibility to infection during pregnancy and infection. In particular, her lab investigates the role of maternal microchimerism (maternal cells acquired by the fetus in utero) in fetal and infant immune development, early vaccine responses, and susceptibility to infection. Current projects in her lab include isolating and phenotyping maternal cells from pregnancies affected and unaffected by infection, determining whether infants acquire a maternal graft with immunologic memory, and investigating whether the maternal cells affect the development of immune responses against malaria, HIV, and CMV in the infant. She has also launched a number of SARS-CoV-2 related projects, including the identification and characterization of Spike-specific T cells in breastmilk. She collaborates with Drs. Aitchison, Englund, Frenkel, Gern, Jaspan, Minkah, Sather, and Sodora within the division.
 

Rafael E. Hernandez, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s

Dr. Rafael Hernandez’s research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of mycobacteria. He studies both Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), which cause lung or other infections in people with cystic fibrosis and other underlying medical conditions. His focus is on developing better treatment strategies for both tuberculosis and NTM infections. One aim of his work is to understand how mycobacteria interact with cells of the immune system to promote their own survival and how this interaction may make them more resistant to killing by antibiotics. He is also focused on developing better treatment strategies for NTM, including using a modeling approach to identify multidrug regimens which are more effective against NTM. To conduct these investigations Dr. Hernandez employs a combination of bacterial genetics, microbiology, cellular model, and zebrafish animal model experimental approaches. This work will help to facilitate development of more effective and shorter treatments for both tuberculosis and NTM disease. Dr. Hernandez works closely with Dr. Sherman in the UW Department of Microbiology and Dr. Ma in Pediatrics. He also serves as the director of the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Isolate Core at Seattle Children’s Hospital, which distributes bacterial isolates and performs microbiology testing to facilitate CF microbiology research both locally and nationally.
 

Heather Jaspan, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; Adjunct Associate Professor, Global Health, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Dr. Jaspan’s research group seeks to better understand the interplay between host microbial and immunological factors that impacts susceptibility to infectious diseases in infant and adolescents from sub-Saharan Africa. Our overarching goal is to pinpoint mechanisms by which dynamic community structures of commensal bacteria regulate immunology at mucosal surfaces and how that ultimately mitigates or promotes susceptibility to infectious disease. We additionally seek to elucidate the role that maternal HIV infection has on these commensal communities, and the resultant effects of HIV exposure on infant immunity immunology and vaccine responses. We utilize clinical, preclinical and computational approaches to address these topics.
 

Stefan Kappe, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Vice Chair for Basic Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine; Adjunct Professor, Department of Global Health, University of Washington School of Medicine. Associate Director, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Dr. Kappe’s research focuses on the biology, immunology, and vaccinology of obligate intracellular Plasmodium parasites, which cause malaria, and on the development of interventions that prevent malaria infection. Dr. Kappe is particularly interested in the parasites mosquito stages and pre-erythrocytic stages including sporozoite and liver stage biology, immunology and vaccine design. Both, the sporozoite stage but particularly the elusive liver stage, are challenging to work with and have remained poorly studied. The Kappe laboratory has pioneered functional genomics studies of both sporozoites and liver stages and has thus laid the groundwork for a systems approach to their analysis. The lab works with rodent malaria models and the human malaria parasites Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Dr. Kappe have made major contributions to the field by elucidating the molecular underpinnings that regulate sporozoite infectivity for the mammalian host, factors that are critical for parasite liver infection and key parasite and host factors that are critical for intrahepatocytic liver stage growth. He has also more recently contributed major findings in the area of host responses to liver stage infection and immunity to malaria parasite liver infection. Finally, Dr. Kappe has pioneered the design of genetically engineered, attenuated parasites for vaccination, which are tested in animal models but also in early phase human clinical studies called controlled human malaria infections. Dr. Kappe partners with biotech for manufacturing of these attenuated vaccine strains and further clinical development.
 

Alexis Kaushansky, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; Adjunct Associate Professor, Global Health; Principal Investigator, Seattle Children’s Research Institute; Member Brotman Baty Institute; Member Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

Dr. Kaushansky’s research focus is host responses to infection. Her laboratory is particularly interested in how pathogens of global importance alter the biology of their hosts to ensure their own survival.  One major effort in the Kaushansky laboratory focuses on how Plasmodium parasites, the causative agent of malaria, alter two major environments after infection: (1) the liver, which is the site of asymptomatic infection and (2) the blood brain barrier, whose breakdown causes the most severe form of malaria pathogenesis, cerebral malaria. By identifying key host regulators of infection and pathogenesis, the Kaushansky lab has identified targeted interventions that can eliminate infection.  In addition to uncovering key regulators of malaria infection, research from the Kaushansky lab has also highlighted similarities and differences between the host response to infection by the divergent parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Trypanosoma cruzi. A better understanding of these similarities and differences could lead to broadly applicable interventions that target multiple infections with a single regimen. Acknowledging that the “right tools for the job” are often not available when studying infectious disease, the Kaushansky lab has ongoing efforts that aim to develop technologies that overcome barriers to studying infectious disease. These tools include (1) computational tools to model host and drug responses to infection, (2) robotic systems to automate laborious laboratory tasks and, (3) the development of organs-on-chip systems in collaboration with bioengineers to study infections in vitro in a realistic environment. She collaborates broadly with scientists throughout the University of Washington and internationally.  Within the division, she has ongoing research projects with Drs. Sather, Minkah, Ma, Smith, Aitchison and Rajagopal. A list of research publications can be found here.

Victoria Lopez Konold, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; Associate Medical Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, Seattle Children’s Hospital; Director, Quality Improvement, Division of Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Konold’s research focuses on the intersection of informatics, quality improvement and antimicrobial stewardship. She investigates ways to leverage the electronic health record to 1. Nudge provider behaviors toward guideline-centered care, and 2. Extract data from the electronic health record to answer questions about quality, equity and to better characterize the success of antimicrobial stewardship interventions. Examples of this work include re-purposing EHR auto-correct functionality to provide in-the-moment feedback encouraging replacement terminology for historically racist medical jargon, deploying an electronic checklist helping clinicians to better characterize penicillin allergy labeling during allergy history taking, and creating a dashboard to identify adverse events associated with outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy. Within the Division, she collaborates with Drs. Kronman and Weissman on projects related to antimicrobial stewardship

Her clinical time includes inpatient Infectious Diseases consultations and the outpatient Infectious Diseases clinic. In addition, she directs QI for the division and is the Associate Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys growing flowers in the garden, rediscovering her love of cycling, swimming, and dancing, and spending time exploring the PNW with her partner and their tiny adventure dog.
 

Matthew "Boots" Kronman, MD, MSCE
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s; Program Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellowship training program; Associate Medical Director of Infection Prevention, Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Kronman’s primary research interest is antimicrobial stewardship, using the tools of pharmacoepidemiology to understand current patterns of antimicrobial use, identify the unintended consequences of antimicrobial overuse, and ultimately find ways to improve the overall quality of antimicrobial prescribing for various conditions. His clinical time is split between inpatient Infectious Diseases consultations and the outpatient Infectious Diseases Clinic. He works closely with Dr. Urdahl, the Research Director and Training Grant Principal Investigator, to coordinate all aspects of research training for our fellows. Within the Division, he collaborates with Drs. Zerr, Weissman, and Konold on projects related to infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship. Outside the Division, he collaborates with researchers at other institutions on projects related to antimicrobial stewardship in both inpatient and outpatient settings. 
 

Shuyi Ma, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pathobiology Program, Department of Global Health.

Dr. Ma’s research focuses on studying the complex molecular interplay between host, pathogen, and drugs during infection and treatment, focusing on tuberculosis.  Dr. Ma’s laboratory is using drugs as chemical tools and computational modeling as a framework to understand how changes in the network of interacting genes in the bacteria and the host decide the balance of fates between these organisms during infection. By better understanding the behavior of these biological networks during infection and treatment, Dr. Ma’s laboratory seeks to uncover new biological insights that will inform the rational design of combinatorial therapies that maximize efficacy, minimize toxicity, and mitigate drug evasion by simultaneously targeting both host and pathogen.
 

Suzanne McDermott, PhD
Acting Assistant Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine

Dr. McDermott’s research encompasses understanding protozoan pathogen biology and also human immune responses to their infection/vaccination, focusing on two main areas: (1) Studying the molecular biology of trypanosomes to understand potential therapeutic targets, using a combination of structural proteomics and genetics, and (2) identification of protective antigens, antigen receptors, and immune responses following malaria infection and vaccination, using multi-omic, systems approaches.

Dr. McDermott’s research has led to a deep understanding of key protein domains and interactions in therapeutic targets that carry out essential RNA editing in trypanosomes. She also developed genetic tools that allowed high-throughput mutational scanning to be carried out for the first time in trypanosomes, which has led to new insights into target protein function. She became excited to apply similar high-throughput molecular, proteomic, and genetic approaches to more translational questions, specifically the important characterization of immune antigen receptor-pathogen antigen interactions following malaria vaccination and infection. Here she has, 1) adapted the yeast display system for surface expression of selected malaria antigens and their cognate antibodies such that their interactions can be determined via a synthetic yeast mating assay (AlphaSeq), and 2) initiated multi-omic studies of single cell transcriptomes, surface proteins, and antigen receptors in heterogenous immune cell samples from malaria vaccine trial subjects. 

Dr. McDermott also teaches in the Pathobiology Graduate Program at the University of Washington Department of Global Health. Outside the lab and classroom, she enjoys hiking, diving, dancing, and playing old time fiddle music. She also loves spending time with her two pups.

Caitlin McGrath, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine; Associate Medical Director of Infection Prevention, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Dr. McGrath’s research interests include the epidemiology and prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), including central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs)

During the 2022-23 year, she is participating in the Leadership in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and Public Health (LEAP) Fellowship sponsored by the CDC to gain further experience in hospital epidemiology and public health and will partner with the Washington State Department of Health on projects relating to HAIs and health equity. Her clinical time is spent on the inpatient infectious diseases consult service and in general ID outpatient clinic, and she serves as an Associate Medical Director for Infection Prevention at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She loves partnering with teams throughout the hospital to work collaboratively to prevent and treat infections. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two young daughters, and dog. You’ll find them exploring local parks and kid-friendly destinations.

Ann Melvin, MD
Clinical Director, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Dr. Melvin is director of the Pediatric HIV program at SCH. Her research interests are in the antiretroviral management of HIV disease in children and prevention and management of complications of HIV treatment. Dr. Melvin is an investigator in the NIH-sponsored International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials network. She is a Co-chair of the DHHS Panel on Antiretroviral Therapy and Medical Management of HIV-Infected Children: Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in Pediatric HIV Infection. She is also the Faculty lead for the Research Recruitment Service for the Institute for Translational Health Sciences of the University of Washington. She collaborates with Drs. Frenkel, Englund and Vora.
 

Peter J Myler, Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Director of the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID).

The Myler laboratory makes extensive use of genome-scale approaches, such as for genome (re-)sequencing, mRNA profiling (RNA-seq) and chromatin immunoprecipitation using sequencing (ChIP-seq), to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying transcription and regulation of gene expression during Leishmania differentiation. We are particularly interested in elucidating the role of epigenomic histone and DNA modifications (including the novel DNA base J) in these processes. For the past 20 years, we have been actively involved in structural genomics and Dr. Myler is currently PI and director of the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), which is funded under a contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The mission of SSGCID is to use X-ray crystallography, Cryo-electron microscopy and NMR spectroscopy to solve the structure of proteins targets in emerging and re-emerging infectious disease organisms, primarily to facilitate development of new therapeutics using structure-based drug design.
 

Donald Nyangahu, PhD
Acting Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Dr. Nyangahu’s research is focused on understanding the impact of the maternal and infant gut microbiota on immune development in infants. This includes investigating how alterations in maternal or infant intestinal communities may impact infant vaccine responses and immunity to pathogens as well as associated mechanisms. Infants born to mothers with HIV, even when HIV uninfected themselves display enhanced susceptibility to infectious diseases. Dr. Nyangahu is interested in unraveling novel mechanisms for this phenomenon.  To address these questions, Dr. Nyangahu performs translational work conducting research in human infants and validating findings using conventional and germ-free mouse models. Furthermore, Dr. Nyangahu is interested in understanding the role of gut microbiota in driving growth phenotypes both in HIV exposed infants and in malnourished infants with or without diarrhea. To this end, he is collaborating with various UW investigators working in the field of childhood malnutrition and infant immunity in HIV-exposed infants in Kenya and South Africa. Outside of research, Donald enjoys playing soccer, watching tennis and spending time with his family.

Tanya Parish, PhD
Professor. Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Principal Investigator, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Dr Parish’s research is focused in two main areas: (i) understanding the biology of the global pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis; and (ii) discovering and developing novel drugs for tuberculosis that are effective at curing drug sensitive and drug resistant tuberculosis. Her fundamental research addresses mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, the mode of action of antibiotics and the investigation of essential cellular processes in mycobacteria. Her applied work encompasses a range of early-stage drug discovery including assay development and high throughput screening, drug target identification and validation, and medicinal and synthetic chemistry.  Visit the Parish Lab

Lakshmi Rajagopal, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Associate Professor of Microbiology and Global Health, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Dr. Rajagopal is a Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Her laboratory is located at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Her research interest is to understand virulence mechanisms of human pathogens and their interactions with the host. Her laboratory currently focuses on understanding how virulence factors of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) contribute to stillbirth, preterm birth and neonatal infections. Studies from her laboratory showed that the molecular basis for GBS hemolysis is the ornithine rhamnolipid pigment and increased pigment expression exacerbates GBS virulence. Dr. Rajagopal has received multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health for her GBS research and serves as a permanent member of the Bacterial Pathogenesis Study Section. Recently, Dr. Rajagopal is also involved in efforts to understand how the Zika virus causes fetal injury during pregnancy. The goal of the research in the Rajagopal laboratory is to ultimately translate the research findings into therapeutic measures that can prevent infections during pregnancy.
 

D. Noah Sather, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Global Health; University of Washington

Dr. Sather’s research focuses on the development of vaccines to induce protective antibody responses against disease causing pathogens. A guiding principle of this work is to understand infection-induced antibody responses to serve a natural prototype to guide vaccine development. The two main areas for research are HIV-1 and malaria.  His HIV-1 work has helped to define how broadly neutralizing antibodies develop during infection, and his current efforts are focused on understanding the kinetics, dynamics, and evolution of B cell responses to vaccination with HIV-1 Envelope proteins. His malaria work spans two species of malaria-causing parasites: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, and spans through multiple lifecycle intervention points. The major areas of this work include identification of new vaccine candidates, optimization of protective responses, and understanding how pre-existing immunity influences vaccine outcomes. In the fight against COVID-19, the lab is interested in understanding immune responses to Variants of Concern. They have now developed and contributed more than 30 recombinant trimeric Spike proteins derived from SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern that have helped advance our knowledge of how to fight the evolving pandemic.
 

Joseph D. Smith, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Dr. Smith’s lab investigates malaria pathogenesis and new approaches to treat vascular dysfunction resulting from hyperinflammatory injury. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites that are transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes. Cerebral malaria is a life-threatening complication caused by intense sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells in the brain microvasculature, leading to microvascular obstruction and breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. The Smith lab and our team of collaborators have developed novel bioengineered brain microvessel models to investigate disease processes in the laboratory and we are investigating patients in Africa and India to study how brain endothelial cells respond to host and parasite inflammatory factors and to determine why there is severe brain swelling in some cerebral malaria patients. In related research, we are investigating the signaling mechanisms that regulate endothelial barrier properties and evaluating drug-repurposing of kinase inhibitors to treat vascular dysfunction in different disease contexts.
 

Donald Sodora, PhD
Professor, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Professor, Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor, Dept. Global Health, University of Washington. 

Dr. Sodora’s studies have evaluated the interplay between the host and viral infections. Over the past 20 years the focus of the laboratory has primarily been on understanding transmission and disease progression during HIV infection.  These studies have included infants, identifying changes within the infant immune system that may influence whether an exposure to HIV results in a successful infection. More recently, the laboratory has begun to assess host-virus interactions during SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) infections. The long-term goal of the ongoing studies is to identify novel approaches for development of vaccines or therapeutic approaches to prevent the spread and disease complications resulting from a viral infection. Studies in the Sodora laboratory include both animal models and human cohort studies. 

Caleb Stokes, MD, PhD
Acting Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine, and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

I am interested in the mechanisms of brain injury caused by infection or inflammation within the central nervous system (CNS). My graduate training was in basic and developmental neurosciences; understanding neural circuits and nervous system dysfunction are some of my primary scientific motivations. As an infectious diseases clinician and translational researcher, I hope to develop tools that prevent the detrimental effects of inflammation while enhancing immune function to protect neuronal circuits during infection. I am currently studying how the innate immune system helps control Zika virus infection, using induced neural progenitor cells which are derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Using this system, we are able to derive all of the major cell types present in the developing brain, which has allowed us to identify differences in the ways that neural progenitors, neurons and glia respond to viral infection. I am also exploring how West Nile Virus infection activates inflammatory microglia to cause damage to neuronal functions, and testing therapies that can reverse this harmful neuroinflammation.

I am actively engaged in teaching and mentoring activities through Seattle Children’s hospital and my basic science work. I am firmly committed to increasing the number and impact of underrepresented minorities and women in biomedical research and improving equity in medicine. 

Ken Stuart, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Dr. Stuart’s research is primarily focused on protozoan pathogens and the diseases that they cause. These include malaria which is caused by Plasmodium parasites, three diverse diseases caused by related Trypanosomatid and Leishmanial parasites, and Covid caused by SARS CoV2. His lab is investigating human immune responses to malaria and Covid vaccination and infection in order to elucidate protective response and thus aid vaccine development. He also investigates fundamental molecular and cellular processes of trypanosomatid parasites to elucidate novel molecular functions and identify potential drug targets. He is well known for his groundbreaking studies of RNA editing, a novel genetic process with molecular attributes shared among eukaryotes. He led parasite genomics and drug discovery consortia and now leads a multi-institution U19 research program on human immune responses to HIV, malaria, and SARS CoV2, that is part of the NIH Human Immunology Project Consortium. He has served on NIH study sections and USAID and WHO advisory groups and currently serves on the NIAID council.
 

Kevin Urdahl, MD, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Principal Investigator, Center for Global Infectious Diseases, Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Dr. Urdahl’s research is focused on understanding the immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and seeks to inform the rational design of an effective vaccine. He uses advanced immunologic approaches in the mouse Mtb model to identify innate and adaptive mechanisms that promote immunity against Mtb, as well as those that restrict immunity. Recently, his lab has developed a new mouse model, in which mice are infected with an ultra-low dose of Mtb (1-3 founding bacteria), that better recapitulates several features of human TB. They are currently using this model to gain new insights into Mtb immunity and pathogenesis, and also trying to develop this model further as a platform for pre-clinical testing of TB vaccine and therapeutic candidates. Dr. Urdahl is the PI of Cascade IMPAc-TB, a large NIH consortium that seeks to identify mechanisms of immunity against Mtb by integrating animal and human studies. Through this consortium, he collaborates with three clinical sites in Africa and his research in mice is shaped by this crosstalk with human TB research

Ashley Vaughan, BSc, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine, Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Ashley received his PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and studies the disease malaria, caused by Plasmodium parasites. He has showed the importance of the parasite’s fatty acid synthetic pathway for sporozoite and liver stage maturation. He also researches how to elicit the most protective immune response after vaccination with genetically attenuated parasites. Ashley has led significant advances in the use of human-liver chimeric mouse models in studying malaria. This includes complete liver stage development and the transition to blood stage malaria in the mouse for the human malarias Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. He has also used this mouse model for the creation of experimental Plasmodium falciparum genetic crosses, a significant advance that will aid in our understanding of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance. More recently, Ashley has been using the human-liver chimeric mouse model to study the commitment dormant liver stage hypnozoite formation in Plasmodium vivax as well as hypnozoite persistence and activation. Ashley continues to be fascinated by basic parasite pre-erythrocytic biology – the mosquito and liver stages of the life cycle and to this end uses rodent malaria parasite transgenesis to understand how the parasite interacts with its vector and host during sporozoite and liver stage development. Ashley collaborates with Drs. Kappe, Sather and Aitchison at the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research. Ashley also collaborates both nationally and internationally with malaria experts including Dr. Jetsumon Sattabongkot at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, a leading expert in the field of P. vivax research.

Surabhi (Sara) Vora, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Vora’s primary research area of interest is infections in immunocompromised hosts, especially viral and fungal infections in patients with primary immune deficiency and those who have received CAR T-cells and hematopoeitic cell transplants. She is an investigator for the International Pediatric Fungal Network as well as the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Transplant Research Network and has been involved in multidisciplinary efforts to develop local and national guidance for pediatric patients with COVID-19 infections. Her clinical time is split between the inpatient infectious diseases service and outpatient clinic. In addition, she serves as a consultant to the Seattle Children’s Hospital Clinical Effectiveness (CE) Program, assisting with the development and implementation of standardized clinical pathways of care. Dr. Vora is Co-Director of the CE program’s Research and Writing Team, which works to disseminate learnings from clinical pathways to quality improvement literature. Dr. Vora also serves as a coach for pediatric residents.

Alpana Waghmare, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital
Assistant Professor, Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Waghmare’s research is focused on respiratory viral infections in immunocompetent and immunocompromised adults and children. She is interested in the factors that influence disease severity and progression, with the intent to identify diagnostic, prevention, and treatment strategies. Dr. Waghmare’s focus to date has been on the impact of human rhinovirus, the most common virus detected from respiratory specimens in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. She is working to identify clinical, viral, and host factors that may serve as biomarkers for disease severity. Viral factors she is evaluating include viral load in blood and respiratory secretions, strain type, and shedding duration. Host factors are being evaluated through host cytokine responses and whole blood gene expression profiles. These determinants of disease will serve as biomarkers for risk stratification and can be used diagnostically to predict poor outcome, thus defining patients who warrant aggressive treatment strategies. Additionally, these studies will provide important insight into biologic pathways during infection and define possible targets for intervention. Dr. Waghmare’s group is investigating similar markers of disease progression for other respiratory viruses, including parainfluenza viruses and respiratory syncytial virus. Since the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Dr. Waghmare has been evaluating the natural history of infection in a longitudinal surveillance cohort study of individuals at high risk of infection. The goals of the study include understanding the incidence rate, viral shedding duration and re-infection rates as well as defining the kinetics of antibody and T-cell responses in infected individuals.

Dr. Waghmare is also involved in clinical trials for novel antivirals and immune based therapies for the treatment of respiratory viral infections in children and adults.
 

Thor Wagner, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Dr. Wagner’s research is focused on understanding and treating chronic viral infections. His primary focus is pediatric HIV, which accounts for 10% of all HIV deaths Dr. Wagner has been focused on the mechanisms that allow HIV to persist despite prolonged antiretroviral treatment. This research led Dr. Wagner to focus on treatment strategies that target HIV-infected cells. Currently Dr. Wagner is developing anti-HIV chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, which are also resistant to HIV, as a potential strategy to cure HIV. The lab is currently optimizing this approach in vitro and testing CAR T cells in small and large animal models. His lab has also started to explore cell therapy for other chronic viral infections.

Scott Weissman, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine; Medical Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Weissman leverages clinical microbiology data to inform antimicrobial stewardship interventions in the inpatient setting.  He has developed and supported programs to: manage complex urology patients with recurrent multi-drug-resistant infections; create Individualized Antibiotic Plans for patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation; de-label patients with penicillin allergy histories; and promote equitable utilization of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy. Since 2015, he has also worked with the University of Washington’s Center for One Health Research to develop surveillance strategies and systems that provide for inference of molecular dynamics from pooled clinical microbiology data across Washington State.

Danielle Zerr, MD, MPH
Division Chief and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine; Affiliate Investigator, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Medical Director of Infection Prevention, Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Zerr’s research has focused on two main areas: (1) Defining the epidemiology of viral pathogens in healthy children and immunocompromised hosts and (2) describing the epidemiology and defining effective prevention strategies for healthcare-associated infections. Dr. Zerr’s research has contributed to defining the natural history of primary infection with human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B), a virus that infects most people by age 3 years.  Her work has also helped define the epidemiology and disease associations of HHV-6B reactivation following transplantation. Dr. Zerr recently led a trial through Children’s Oncology Group to determine whether bathing with chlorhexidine gluconate reduces central line-associated bloodstream infections in children with cancer. 

Her clinical time includes inpatient Infectious Diseases consultations and the outpatient Infectious Diseases clinic. In addition, she is the Medical Director for the Infection Prevention Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Outside the hospital, she enjoys hiking and cross-country skiing whenever she can find someone to go along. She also loves spending time with her young adult children, spouse, and pups.