Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology

Alistair Ramsay, PhD
G. John Buddingh Professor and Head of the Department

The Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology (MIP) is responsible for the instruction of medical students in the concepts of bacteriology, mycology, virology, parasitology, and immunology as they relate to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of both infectious and immune-mediated disease. Specifically, Departmental faculty direct the Medical Immunology course (L1) and contribute extensively to the Foundations of Disease and Therapy block and all other Systems blocks (L2). Our courses include didactic lectures and team-based learning exercises, a series of clinical case-based classes that demonstrate diagnostic approaches and challenges. The effectiveness of the class is enhanced by the use of a clicker-based student response system which facilitates real-time discussion throughout the course. The Department maintains strong, federally-funded research programs in each of the sub-disciplines of microbiology and immunology that support the training of MD/PhD candidates, facilitating the development of these students to become first-class clinical researchers in biomedicine.