News & Announcements
Read the latest news from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology-Immunology. The links below take you to articles where you can learn more about our faculty’s latest achievements, awards and honors.
05.12.2025A new Northwestern study may explain why the body may continue to respond to an invisible threat long after bacterial death in Lyme disease.
05.09.2025Scientists led by Karla Satchell, PhD, have discovered previously unknown molecular mechanisms that help a type of foodborne bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus recognize host cells and initiate infection, according to a recent study published in Science Advances.
04.25.2025A new Northwestern study shows piperacillin, an antibiotic, effectively cured mice of Lyme disease at a dose 100 times smaller than the effective dose of doxycycline, the current gold-standard treatment.
02.13.2025Professor H Steven (Hank) Seifert of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine will receive Northwestern’s 2025 Provost Award for Exemplary Faculty Service.
The annual award, given by the Office of the Provost, recognizes full-time faculty members who provide outstanding service to the University or significant contributions to their individual units and are exemplars of good academic citizenship.
01.28.2025Northwestern Medicine scientists have uncovered new details on how poxviruses manipulate host cells to enhance their own protein production, according to a study published in Cell Reports.
01.21.2025Dr. Jutras' lab wins Phase 3 of LymeX Diagnostics Prize for the innovative Lyme disease test using monoclonal antibodies and immuno-PCR.
01.07.2025Bayar Thimmapaya, PhD, professor emeritus of Microbiology-Immunology, passed away peacefully at home on December 26, 2024. He was 81.
Born and raised in India, Dr. Thimmapaya obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He pursued his lifelong devotion to science when he immigrated to the United States in 1975 to conduct his postdoctoral research at Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut Health Center.
Dr. Thimmapaya then joined Northwestern University’s Department of Microbiology-Immunology as a faculty member where he earned tenure and retired as professor emeritus after 43 years of service in 2023. Over the course of his career, Dr. Thimmapaya was responsible for training many graduate students who would go on to lead research programs around the world. Dr. Thimmapaya studied oncogenic viruses and made important contributions to our understanding of the pathogenesis of human adenoviruses.
Intellectually curious by nature, Dr. Thimmapaya was an avid reader and took a keen interest in politics and current events.
He is survived by his wife Rama of 47 years, two daughters Asha (Amit) Mehrotra and Deepa (Pavan) Tripathi, and five grandchildren Devin, Anya, Dilan, Ria, and Rohan.
10.28.2024Investigators led by Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology-Immunology, have discovered that administering an antibody treatment four days after mRNA vaccination significantly improved vaccine efficacy in mice, according to findings published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
10.03.2024Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new underlying mechanisms that controls a specialized group of T-cells, findings that may serve as potential targets for treating inflammatory diseases and cancer, according to a recent study.
09.16.2024Rex Chisholm, PhD, vice dean for Scientific Affairs and Graduate Education, kicked off this year’s celebration by welcoming attendees and presenting the Tripartite Legacy Faculty Prize in Translational Science and Education to Alan Hauser, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of Microbiology-Immunology, and the Medical Faculty Council Mentors of the Year awards to Hauser and Scott Budinger, MD, chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care in the Department of Medicine.
08.26.2024Alan Hauser, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of Microbiology-Immunology, has been named the winner of the 2024 Tripartite Legacy Faculty Prize in Translational Science and Education.
07.08.2024Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered novel protein mechanisms that promote the rapid spread of Vibrio vulnificus, a rare but lethal bacteria that can cause vibriosis and sepsis, according to findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
05.31.2024Feinberg’s Medical Faculty Council (MFC) honored Alan Hauser, MD, PhD, and Scott Budinger, MD, as the 2024 Mentors of the Year at a workshop on May 29, with awardees sharing insights from their experiences mentoring students, trainees and peers.