We study all pieces of the microbe-host puzzle. Our vision for Tucson and the world is to control an
A Word From Department Chair - Dr. Janko Nikolich-Zugich
Over the past several decades, Immunobiology has emerged to stand at the forefront of biomedical research, and is likely to remain there for many decades to come. Many fascinating fundamental problems in host:microbe interaction are still out there to be resolved. But more importantly, vast areas of modern medicine cannot progress without an
adequate understanding of the microbial and immunological aspects of diseases and the discovery of new modalities to treat them. These include, but are not limited to, autoimmune diseases, cancer, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (including those potentially introduced by bioterrorism), organ, tissue and stem cell transplantation, allergies and hypersensitivity-related diseases as well as the whole array of innate and acquired immune deficiencies. The new focus upon the normal commensal flora of our organism and its impact upon health and disease opens yet another, very exciting front in immunobiology. Department of Immunobiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine is growing into a nationally and internationally recognized research and educational center. We strive to blend the excitement of fundamental immunological research with the relevance of its work to the one or more of the clinical problems outlined above. We approach research and education as a flexible and cooperative team, where individual faculty with synergistic and complementary expertise and interests not only contribute their strong individual scientific identity, but are also able and, more importantly, willing to devote part of their time to larger collaborative and multidisciplinary projects which are becoming a trademark of the NIH funding initiatives and of future research opportunities. This open and interactive nature of a department allows collaborative projects to be nucleated both within the department itself, as well as in collaboration with other basic and clinical departments at the Colleges, Institutes and Centers of the Arizona Health Sciences and the UA main campus. There has never been a more exciting time to work in and study Immunobiology. Please visit our other pages to learn about our specific educational, research and outreach programs and initiatives.
