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:

 

Mailliard develops 'Swiss Army Knife' immunotherapy that kicks and kills HIV by exploiting a common virus

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - In a fi...
Mailliard develops 'Swiss Army Knife' immunotherapy that kicks and kills HIV by exploiting a common virus

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - In a first on the quest to cure human immunodeficiency virus, IDM's Robbie Mailliard and colleagues developed an all-in-one immunotherapy approach that not only kicks HIV out of hiding in the immune system, but also kills it. The key lies in immune cells designed to recognize ... (04/15/2019)

Mailliard and Rinaldo on the quest to cure HIV using immunotherapy

INFECTION CONTROL TODAY - IDM...
Mailliard and Rinaldo on the quest to cure HIV using immunotherapy

INFECTION CONTROL TODAY - IDM's Robbie Mailliard and Charles Rinaldo are on the quest to cure HIV using an all-in-one immunotherapy approach that not only kicks HIV out of hiding in the immune system but also kills it. The key lies in immune cells designed to recognize an entirely different virus. ... (04/03/2019)

Marques finds that previous exposure to Dengue Fever protects against Zika

90.5 WESA - Pitt researchers ...
Marques finds that previous exposure to Dengue Fever protects against Zika

90.5 WESA - Pitt researchers have found that previous exposure to Dengue Fever lowers the risk of infection from the Zika virus. “If we use currently approved Dengue vaccines or vaccines that are already close to become approved, you could boost Dengue responses... and could provide some degree of ... (03/07/2019)

Burke on overdose deaths in Pittsburgh declining sharply

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW - "...
Burke on overdose deaths in Pittsburgh declining sharply

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW - "At this point, I'm not confident it is a permanent change for the good or if we're just returning to the expected curve," Dean Donald Burke said. "In our paper in Science a few months ago, we showed overdoses from all drugs, not just opioids, have been growing exponenti... (03/04/2019)

Burke talks to The Economist about charting "the death curve"

THE ECONOMIST - Charting over...
Burke talks to The Economist about charting "the death curve"

THE ECONOMIST - Charting overdose deaths shows an exponential curve increasing at a constant clip of 7.6% per year. Some modellers argue that the death curve might even continue its acceleration. “Anyone who tells me otherwise has to show me why that curve should bend now when it hasn’t in the face... (03/04/2019)

 

Mon
4/22 IDM Seminar Series
"Regulation of Synaptic Protein Neurogranin in HAND", Roberta Reis IDM Seminar Series
"Regulation of Synaptic Protein Neurogranin in HAND", Roberta Reis
Mon 4/22 12:00PM - 1:00PM
Public Health Lecture Hall (A115)
Wed
4/24 IDM Dissertation Defense
Jan Kristoff PhD Defense IDM Dissertation Defense
Jan Kristoff PhD Defense
Wed 4/24 11:30AM - 1:00PM
Public Health Auditorium (G23)
Tue
5/7 MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Center Conference
Mental Health is Public Health Conference MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Center Conference
Mental Health is Public Health Conference
Tue 5/7 8:00AM - 4:30PM
Outside Conference and Meeting Spaces
More IDM Events
More Pitt Public Health Events