Welcome.

Infectious diseases are a constant threat to every person, placing an enormous burden on human health, the economy, and day-to-day living.  Loyola University Chicago's  Infectious Disease and Immunology Research Institute's (InDIRI's) mission is to discover approaches to prevent and treat infectious diseases to benefit the care of patients and promote public health. We have a diverse faculty of basic scientists and clinicians engaged in cutting-edge research. The Institute fosters dynamic collaboration between our basic, translational, and clinical researchers to leverage their strengths and enable a comprehensive approach that accelerates transformative research. 

Leadership

InDIRI's co-directors foster a cross-disciplinary collaboration at the interface of basic and clinical research, 

Susan L. Uprichard, PhD

Dr. Uprichard is a professor in the Department of Medicine and Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Her laboratory focuses on the development of experimental model systems needed to dissect the lifecycle of viruses, optimize antiviral treatment response, and identify the viral-host interactions that determine infection outcome.

Nina Clark, MD

Dr. Clark is a professor in the Department of Medicine and Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases. She directs the HIV and Transplant Infectious Diseases Programs at Loyola, aligning her clinical work with her research efforts investigating novel antimicrobials and infections in immunocompromised persons.

Graduate Program

The InDIRI Masters of Science in Infectious Disease and Immunology is a two-year research intensive program intended to prepare students for an advanced career in health-related fields including medicine, nursing, clinical laboratory science, biotechnology, basic/translational/clinical research, forensic medicine, pharmaceutical research, product development, and more. Following the InDIRI mission of integrating basic and clinical research, each student in our program has both a basic scientist and a clinician mentor.  This arrangement fosters student research projects focused on relevant and significant clinical questions.  We further nurture this interactive model with a yearly retreat and seminars given by nationally recognized scientists. Students engage in a comprehensive classroom-based curriculum and carry out an innovative research thesis project under the direction of their two faculty mentors. Our program encourages scholarship as well as strong practical training.  Students take most courses along with other basic science graduate students. These courses emphasize a rigorous foundation in the basics of molecular and cellular biology and also include more specialized topics in infectious disease, immunology, statistics, ethics, and public speaking. They also take courses focused on clinical medicine alongside Stritch physicians-in-training and participate in a Case Studies course taught by Infectious Diseases faculty who present and discuss patient cases.

Learn more.