Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology

Return to: School of Medicine: Departments/Programs  

Pinn Hall, 7^th floor
P.O. Box 800734
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0734
(434) 924-5111
https://mic.med.virginia.edu/

Overview

Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology (MIC) is the largest basic science department within the UVa School of Medicine, comprising an outstanding group of faculty, students and post-doctoral fellows conducting cutting-edge research in many exciting areas of basic biology and human disease. Our research investigations take an integrated and cross-disciplinary approach to address questions in three key major fields: Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology.

Faculty

Faculty members of the Department of MIC focus on:

• Microbiology – as it relates to intrinsic features of the pathogen (i.e. what makes a pathogen a pathogen); host-pathogen interactions; and the immune response of the host toward pathogens.
• Immunology – development of the immune system; signaling and modulation of T and B cells during immune responses; immune response to viruses and other pathogens; cancer immunology; immune tolerance; autoimmunity; as well as cell death and cell clearance in the immune system.
• Cancer Biology – basic cancer biology in the context of number of cancers including breast cancer, prostate cancer, brain cancers and pancreatic cancer; the tumor microenvironment; epigenetics; as well as translational cancer biology, cancer immunology, and immunotherapy.

Students

The Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology (MIC) Department is the home department for almost sixty Ph.D. candidates and MSTP graduate students, under the umbrella of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BIMS). Our graduate students study under internationally recognized scientists in the areas of immunology, cancer biology, virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, biodefense, cell-signaling, and gene regulation.

The diversity of our Department ensures that students in MIC are offered diverse, interdisciplinary training throughout their graduate career. The wide variety of choices in laboratories and coursework, coupled with flexible departmental requirements, enables each student to design a custom-tailored training program that culminates in the awarding of the Ph.D. degree.