Leslie Berg, PhD
Professor, Chair of the Department of Immunology & Microbiology

Linda van Dyk, PhD
Professor, Vice Chair of the Department of Immunology & Microbiology

Welcome to the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine

We are a product of the July 2014 merger of the former Department of Microbiology in the School of Medicine and the Integrated Department of Immunology, a joint venture of the School of Medicine and National Jewish Health. With the merger of the departments come unique opportunities to realize synergy between the outstanding preexisting research programs in immunology focused primarily on aspects of adaptive immunity, and microbiology focused primarily on microbial pathogenesis. Areas of immediate program growth include innate immunity and its impact on adaptive immune function, host-pathogen interactions, and the role of the microbiome on immune function and outcomes of infection. Research interests of new faculty whose arrival is imminent include NOD pathway signaling, intermicrobial warfare involving the type VI secretion system and the viral microbiome of the gut. In other exciting developments, the Department is spearheading a “Human immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative”. This cross-campus effort will involve clinical, translational and basic scientist faculty in many departments. Initial funding in excess of $20,000,000 will be used to hire new faculty whose interests lie in development and delivery of cutting edge immunotherapies, training of postdocs and fellow, and networking to avail faculty of clinical material for research. This support will also be used for development infrastructure for Human immune monitoring and mouse modeling of human disease. Our faculty are engaged in graduate and medical education in both microbiology and immunology, as well as in robust postdoctoral training programs, all supported by institutional NIH training grants. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our people, research and educational programs, as well as opportunities for employment.