Our undergraduate programs offer classroom- and lab-based learning on an array of topics in microbiology and immunology, including:
- Foundations of microbiology: Introduction to medical and environmental microbiology
- Microbial ecophysiology: Dynamics and control of prokaryotic cellular processes in response to the biotic and abiotic environment, including metabolic interactions and metabolic cooperation between microorganisms
- Immunology: Mechanisms of innate and adaptive immune responses to bacterial and viral pathogens, immune deficiencies, and diseases associated with aberrant immune responses
- Molecular virology: Introduction to virus structure and replication, detailed examination of select viruses, development of vaccines and anti-viral drugs, and the use of virus vectors to cure genetic diseases
- Bacterial pathogenesis: Mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis, host defenses and microbial evasion strategies, antibiotics, and vaccines
- Microbial genes and genomes: Genetic, molecular biological, and bioinformatic approaches for the analysis of microbial genomes, gene structure-function, and gene expression
- Data science in microbiology and immunology: Use of biological data science tools to perform survey-level analysis of microbiology and immunology datasets
- Bioinformatics: Computational methods to analyze genome and protein sequences to derive structural and functional information
- Microbiome research: Critical examination and discussion of contemporary research literature concerning the impact of host-associated microbiomes on host development, health, and disease with a focus on humans
- Industrial microbiology and biotechnology: Exploitation of microbial and animal cells for the industrial production of chemicals ranging from alcohol to therapeutic proteins, genetic manipulation of cellular characteristics, fermentation methods, and patenting and governmental approval processes
- Molecular microbiology laboratory: Aseptic handling and characterization of microbes, growth properties, enzyme assays, protein analysis, and plasmid isolation
- Molecular immunology and virology laboratory: Genetic manipulation of bacteria, introductory immunological and virological procedures, and tissue culture
View coursework requirements for:
Microbiology and Immunology Specializations