Welcome to M&I

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology (known as M&I) is a community of over 200 individuals in the School of Medicine with a mission to conduct the best possible research and provide the most rigorous and inspiring training in the areas of microbiology, immunology, host-pathogen interaction and related fields.

The Department was founded almost 100 years ago and has gone by a number of names, including the Department of Medical Microbiology. Each name reflecting a particular stage in the evolution of medicine and the life sciences. Our current name was granted by the University in 1987 when the Department made a major push to expand its focus into the complex interplay between microbe and host. This is a unifying theme that permeates the Department’s research and teaching and that only seems to be growing in relevance with each passing year. Our goal is to improve human and animal health as well as to improve our ability to be responsible stewards of a fragile earth.