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The Department of Microbiology-Immunology is located in the FeinbergThe department is composed of 18 faculty members who direct their own independent research programs and are responsible for supervising the research training of more than 45 postdoctoral fellows and 40 pre-doctoral students, the latter being recruited through the Integrated Graduate Program in the Life Sciences (IGP), the Northwestern University Neurosciences Institute (NUIN) and the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). In addition to their research activities, faculty members are also responsible for teaching microbiology, immunology, genetics, molecular biology, and tumor cell biology to medical and graduate students. Research training efforts are supported by several interdepartmental NIH training grants, which support the training of both pre-doctoral and postdoctoral students.

The principal research emphasis of the department is directed towards understanding mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and regulation of the immune system. Faculty members use a wide variety of state-of-the-art cell, molecular, and genetic approaches to examine the interface of pathogen-host cell interactions and dissect the molecular mechanisms involved in regulation of the immune response. Specific areas of research include: viral entry and pathogenesis; bacterial pathogenesis and prokaryotic cell physiology; identification of microbial virulence factors; gene expression and cell cycle regulation; leukocyte trafficking; characterization of tumor suppressor genes; molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis; lymphocyte development and differentiation; signal transduction; and the molecular and cellular basis of autoimmunity. Research efforts in immunology are coordinated through the Interdepartmental Immunobiology Center. In addition, many of the departmental faculty members are also members of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, which coordinates research and education efforts directed towards the study of cancer and provides a variety of shared resources and research infrastructure to support basic scientific research. Many faculty members also participate in program project grants that bring together faculty members with mutual research interests, both from within and outside the department, to work collaboratively toward a specific common thematic research goal.

The department provides a friendly, supportive, highly interactive scientific environment that is strongly enhanced by the significant number of intradepartmental collaborations. In addition, many faculty members collaborate with members of other departments at Northwestern and at other institutions around the world. The department holds an annual retreat and weekly journal clubs and has a strong departmental seminar program; inviting speakers from outside institutions, as well as providing a forum for departmental graduate students and fellows to present their most recent research findings. The departmental seminar series is supplemented by monthly research focus groups in virology and immunology and the biweekly cross-campus interdepartmental Lectures in the Life Sciences seminar program. In addition, many departmental faculty members participate in Chicago area research forums such as the Chicago Association of Immunologists, Chicago Area Virology Association, and the Midwest Prokaryotic Group.

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