St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases - Overview Department Overview The Goal of the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is to study and find cures for catastrophic infectious diseases of childhood through a comprehensive approach including basic science research, translational trials, and bedside care. The top four infectious causes of death worldwide are respiratory disease, AIDS, enteric infections, and tuberculosis. The Department of Infectious Diseases seeks to focus on the pathogenesis of these infectious maladies with a breadth of commitment that extends from the research bench to the bedside.
Current investigations focus on pathogens for the four leading infectious causes of death.
Study of respiratory pathogens includes investigations on molecular pathogenesis of invasion and inflammation induced by the pneumococcus, mediators of streptococcal septic shock, activation and deactivation of macrophages in disease, antibiotic resistance and tolerance mechanisms in pneumococcus, novel antipneumococcal interventions, synergistic interactions between pneumococcus and influenza, and new therapeutic strategies for treatment of influenza infections in immunocompromised hosts. Along with clinical studies carried out in collaboration with the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, basic and translational research into antiviral drugs and a novel multienvelope HIV vaccine initiative are underway. Current investigations of enteric pathogens include study of the regulation of gene expression in Vibrio cholerae . Tuberculosis research focuses on modulation of the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis with particular emphasis on the host-bacteria relationship in the latent state. Research on Group B Streptococcus targets the characterization of novel virulence factors for this important pathogen, with the ultimate aim of identifying new targets for antimicrobial therapy and candidate vaccine antigens.