Infectious Disease Experts and Information for Media

Salvador Almagro-Moreno, PhD, Department of Host-Microbe Interactions, leads a laboratory dedicated to understanding the molecular and environmental factors driving pathogen emergence. He studies Vibrio vulnificus, also known as flesh eating bacteria, and V. cholerae, the agent of cholera, combining ecology, computational biology and molecular genetics to understand how bacteria become pathogens.

Aditya Gaur, MD, St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases, directs the clinical research program in infectious diseases at St. Jude. Gaur is an expert in the prevention and treatment of HIV in children and youth.

Diego Hijano, MD, MSc., St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases, is an expert in infectious diseases affecting children—such as SARS-CoV-2, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza—and is an expert in the science of childhood vaccinations.

Octavio Ramilo, MD, St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases chair, researches the pathogenesis, effects and treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common and highly contagious virus that especially affects infants and young children. He is heavily involved in translational and clinical research aimed at understanding the host immune response to infections and vaccines using genomics and system analysis tools.

Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds deputy director, U.S. Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance co-director. She studies influenza and astroviruses, as well as microbial co-infections, novel vaccines and therapeutics.

Victor Torres, PhD, founding chair of the St. Jude Department of Host-Microbe Interactions, is an internationally renowned microbiologist and immunologist whose research efforts have focused on interactions between pathogenic bacteria and the mammalian host, with an emphasis on multidrug-resistant bacteria. His lab is studying Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which is an increasing threat due to antibiotic resistance.

Steven Varga, PhD, St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases, serves as Dean of the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. With expertise in microbiology, immunology and pathology, he leads an independent research program focusing on virus-specific T lymphocytes mediating immunity and immunopathology during viral infections.

Richard Webby, PhD, St. Jude Department of Host-Microbe Interactions, directs the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds. He is an internationally recognized expert on influenza, including the group of viruses that led to the emergence of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus and potential zoonotic spillover of avian flu viruses.

Joshua Wolf, PhD, MBBS, St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases, is an expert in the prediction, prevention and treatment of infections in immunocompromised children – particularly the management of device-associated infections.