Infectious Disease Experts

Penn State infectious disease experts are at the forefront of research on virus evolution, transmissibility and pathogenicity, as well as outbreak prediction and rapid identification of viral strains, all with a goal of informing the development of the best possible treatment and preventive measures.

  • Matthew Ferrari

    Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics

    Health & Medicine, Agriculture

  • Suresh Kuchipudi

    Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases

    Health & Medicine, Agriculture

  • Katriona Shea

    Professor of Biology and Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences

    Health & Medicine, Sustainability & Environment, Social Sciences

  • Andrew Read

    Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

    Health & Medicine

  • Catharine Paules

    Infectious disease physician

    Health & Medicine

Penn State has one of the largest clusters of infectious disease, data and policy scientists in its Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD), where researchers are readily available to help us better understand how new pandemic viruses emerge, mutate and evolve; the efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics in development; and the mathematic modeling that can measure public health outcomes and identify ways to manage outbreaks.

  • The Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD) at Penn State combines interdisciplinary faculty expertise in virology, ecology, evolution, mathematical biology, modeling and molecular biology, as well as applied disciplines including epidemiology and vector control.
  • The Division of Infectious Diseases at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is home to 11 infectious disease specialists. They aim to advance understanding of microbial pathogenesis and discover new ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases.
Matthew Ferrari

Matthew Ferrari

Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics,
Associate Professor of Biology

Expertise:

  • Health & Medicine
  • Agriculture

Focus Areas:

  • Entomology
  • Infectious Disease
  • Vector-borne Diseases
  • Health Policy

Contact Matthew Ferrari with questions about: larger-scale global epidemiological and human health questions.

Suresh Kuchipudi

Suresh Kuchipudi

Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases,
Associate Director, Animal Diagnostic Lab,
Clinical Professor and Head of Microbiology Section

Expertise

  • Health & Medicine
  • Agriculture

Focus Areas:

Contact Suresh Kuchipudi with questions about: viral diagnostic tools as well as transmission of disease from animals to humans.

Katriona Shea

Katriona Shea

Professor of Biology and Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences,
Faculty member in the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics

Expertise:

  • Health & Medicine
  • Sustainability & Environment
  • Social Sciences

Focus Areas:

  • Climate Change
  • Infectious Disease
  • Ecology
  • Population Research
  • Global Health
  • Biology

Contact Katriona Shea with questions about: Contact Katriona with questions about: COVID-19 projection models, infectious disease dynamics, ecology, theoretical ecology, global warming, climate change and computational biology.

Andrew Read

Andrew Read

Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences,
Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Entomology

Expertise

  • Health & Medicine

Focus Areas:

  • Infectious Disease
  • Pathobiology
  • Genetics
  • Drug Resistance

Contact Andrew Read with questions about: the safety of gathering for holiday celebrations during the pandemic, various aspects of SARS-CoV-2 mutation and evolution; the likelihood that SARS-CoV-2 could evolve resistance to the COVID-19 vaccines and what may be done to prevent such an outcome; the potential ramifications of imperfect vaccination coverage due to the failure of the vaccine to prevent transmission or of patients to get their second booster shots, for example; how new strains of the virus may affect vaccination strategies and effectiveness; and antibiotic and vaccine resistance, generally.

Catharine Paules

Catharine Paules

Infectious disease physician

Expertise:

  • Health & Medicine

Focus Areas:

  • Infectious Disease

Contact Catharine Paules with questions about: the clinical aspects of COVID-19, preparedness for COVID-19 cases, safety and efficacy of COVID-19 therapeutics, COVID-19 vaccines, public health safety measures, and the FDA approval process.

Need help finding an expert?

Penn State expertise spans far beyond those that we have currently featured on the site. Call us at 814-865-7517 or contact a member of the media relations staff

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