Immunology & Infectious Diseases

Graduate student Shannon Allen Whiles has been leading research at WSU that could lead to new treatments for a highly infectious bacteria, Francisella tularensis, that can cause severe illness and even death. Shannon recently completed a doctorate in Biomedical Sciences – Immunology and Infectious Diseases, a research-intensive program designed to train students in immunology, host-pathogen interactions, and population biology of bacterial, parasitic, and viral infectious diseases in animals and humans.

In 2017 the Washington State Legislature unanimously passed Senate Bill 5474 to designate WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine as the state lead in developing a program to monitor and assess causes of, and potential solutions for, elk hoof disease. Read the 2022 report to the Legislature providing the most recent developments with the disease.

Jessica Klein, a product of the Immunology and Infectious Diseases program, tests new drugs developed at Genentech.
Jessica Klein (PhD ‘18)

Vaccinating household chicken flocks can increase consumption of eggs and meat, leading to better growth of young children in rural Kenya, according to a WSU‑led study.

The Spokesman-Review

A disease in elk that causes deformed hooves and eventually leads to lameness and death is also associated with abnormal, asymmetrical antlers, a WSU‑led study of hunter reports found.

In 2017 the Washington State Legislature unanimously passed Senate Bill 5474 to designate WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine as the state lead in developing a program to monitor and assess causes of, and potential solutions for, elk hoof disease. Read the 2021 report to the Legislature providing the most recent developments with the disease.

The grant program provides support for junior faculty to develop research, scholarly, or creative programs that lead to sustained professional development and extramural funding.

A group of bat viruses related to SARS-CoV-2 can also infect human cells but uses a different and unknown entryway. While researchers are still honing in on how these viruses infect cells, the findings could help in the development of new vaccines.

The Seattle Times