Doctor's degree Microbiology and Immunology - Stanford University

Doctor's degree Microbiology and Immunology from Stanford University is a Campus Ph.D Microbiology degree that prepares you for a Science career. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology focuses on how pathogens cause disease and how the hosts' immune systems discriminate between self and non-self. The juxtaposition of labs studying both sides of the host-pathogen equation provides students with the cross-fertilization of disciplines necessary to understanding these complex interactions. Given the inherent and immediate relevance of this work to human disease, the faculty in the department includes a mixture of M.D.s and Ph.D.s. Several of the faculty hold joint appointments in clinical departments and the clinical reality of the diseases being studied is never far from our minds. Pathogens are studied for insights into basic molecular and cellular processes and as probes of the host cell. The control of gene expression at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional and translational levels are all important areas of investigation in different systems. The response of the host cell to insult by a pathogen often gives insights into broader issues related to pathogenesis. On the side of the microorganism, we study the pathogenesis of viruses, bacteria and protozoan parasites. How do these organisms invade and survive in their chosen host? How do they deal with the host's potent immune response? What properties are involved in their pathogenesis? What is responsible for latency and reactivation of infection? How can we use our results to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment? On the side of the host, faculty are studying six major effector arms of the immune system: cytotoxic T-cells, helper T-cells, gamma delta T-cells, B-cells, macro-phages and natural killer cells. How are self-antigens distinguished from non-self? How are antigens processed and presented to effector cells? What cascade follows antigen presentation? What roles do the various effector cells play in the host's immune response to different diseases? How does tolerance arise during development and how does it breakdown in autoimmunity? And how can we interfere with this process? View more details on Stanford University . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Microbiology courses.