Pitt Public Health is one of the few graduate schools of public health with a department dedicated to the study of infectious diseases, which are at the root of some of the world’s most pressing health issues.

The Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM) is committed to training the next generation of scientists and public health professionals to enhance the control of infectious diseases in the human population. Our integrated microbiology graduate programs are devoted to the education and training of graduate students in various molecular, immunologic, epidemiologic, and biologic aspects of microbial pathogenesis, as well as infectious disease control, prevention and education.

Pitt Public Health has made major contributions in defining, preventing, and treating some of the most devastating diseases of the past 60 years. Among the pioneering scientific breakthroughs made by IDM researchers are...

  • Prevention of poliovirus with gamma globulin, which helped in the development of the Salk polio vaccine
  • Identification of dengue viruses and the hemorrhagic fever caused by them
  • Discovery of adeno-associated virus
  • Linking the transmission of cytomegalovirus to infected organs in transplantation
  • Evidence showing HIV load in the blood is a strong predictor of disease progression
  • Establishing the Pitt Men's Study, a part of the ongoing, greater than 30 year nationwide Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study on the natural history of HIV infection
  • Establishing The Mid Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center (MAETC) which has provided HIV/AIDS education, consultation, technical assistance and resource materials to health care professionals for over 30 years

Degrees

The IDM Department is committed to high-quality graduate education that is consistent with our cutting-edge research and behavioral and community education programs. Drawing on the disciplines of molecular biology, immunology, epidemiology, medicine, health education, and community intervention, our graduate programs encourage students to engage in cross-disciplinary research of multiple aspects of infectious diseases.

Doctoral and master level degree programs offered include...

Within the MPH program two concentrations are available:

 

Misinformation is a common thread between the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics

THE CONVERSATION - IDM's Cris...
Misinformation is a common thread between the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics

THE CONVERSATION - IDM's Cristian Apetrei discusses the striking parallels between the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics that show the dire consequences disinformation can have on both patients and society as a whole. COVID-19 isn’t the first pandemic where false and harmful information has set back ... (08/26/2022)

MPH grad focuses on infectious disease prevention

Mya Brady (EPI ‘21) knows the...
MPH grad focuses on infectious disease prevention

Mya Brady (EPI ‘21) knows the value of interprofessional education.Programs offered by three University of Pittsburgh schools, two academic departments and UPMC helped Brady, an infection preventionist at UPMC Presbyterian and Shadyside Hospitals, to find her perfect niche upon completion of her ma... (08/04/2022)

Jeremy Martinson is recipient of 2022 Craig Teaching Award

2022 Craig Award winner, Jere...
Jeremy Martinson is recipient of 2022 Craig Teaching Award

2022 Craig Award winner, Jeremy Martinson, is an assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM), vice chair for research and program director of the Master of Public Health degree. “As a mentor, Dr. Martinson is extremely friendly and personable. He shows a genu... (08/03/2022)

Peter Salk says newest U.S. case of polio sounds a warning

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - Aft...
Peter Salk says newest U.S. case of polio sounds a warning

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - After a man in Rockland County, New York, became the first patient to contract polio in the U.S. in nearly a decade, experts such as IDM’s Peter Salk — whose late father, Jonas, developed a vaccine for the disease — said the public shouldn’t be alarmed but warned that chil... (07/26/2022)

New covid subvariants highly contagious, immune evasive, experts say

TRIB LIVE -  A rapidly spread...
New covid subvariants highly contagious, immune evasive, experts say

TRIB LIVE -  A rapidly spreading covid variant is highly contagious and can cause breakthrough infections, but it’s not more severe or dangerous than prior strains, local experts say. The omicron subvariant — known as BA.5 — has “really taken off, nationally and locally,” said Dr. Lee Harrison, pro... (07/19/2022)