The TGIR is directed by our Principal Investigator (PI), MMG Department Chair Dr. Beth Kirkpatrick, MD, FASTMH, FIDSA. Dr. Kirkpatrick is focused on growing the team’s critical mass of junior investigators; expanding the TGIR and VTC connections to scientists and institutional partners in low-and-middle-income countries; and multi-PI grants involving UVM and global partners. She is also interested in promoting the development of clinician-and physician-scientists, especially in global research.

Chris Huston, MD, is a Co-Investigator on the TGIR grant, and the Co-Director of the TGIR Admin Core. He directs the TGIR mentorship program, ensuring that our junior faculty are paired with senior faculty mentors who have expertise in their subspecialties, and receive dedicated training on everything from grant writing to data representation. His lab studies drug development for the intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium, a major cause of life-threatening diarrhea in young children for which current treatments are poor.

Sean Diehl, PhD, is a Co-Investigator on the TGIR grant and the director of our Pilot Program, which solicits, reviews, and grants initial Pilot Project support to junior faculty. A number of successful pilots have gone on to become Research Project Leaders (RPLs). Prior to becoming the director of the Pilot Program, Dr. Diehl was a TGIR RPL who completed a project entitled “Next generation correlates of protection for dengue.” This project identified immune mechanisms engaged by vaccination or natural infection that correspond with protection from dengue virus.

Dr. Diehl’s work in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics encompasses translational and basic research aimed at understanding the human immune response to viral infections, primarily to dengue virus, zika virus, norovirus, and SARS-CoV-2. His goal is to develop novel immune metrics and specific antibody tools that can be used to advance vaccine development and to understand host-pathogen interactions during viral infection or vaccination. 

Ben Lee, MD, is a Co-Investigator and the director of the TGIR International Visiting Scholars Program, which facilitates weeklong visits to UVM for respected scientists from foreign research institutions, for purposes of developing research collaborations between Vermont and potential new partners abroad. Under Dr. Lee, the TGIR Visiting Scholar Program has brought research collaborators to Vermont from the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa; Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ); and the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia. 

Prior to becoming the director of the TGIR Visiting Scholar Program, Dr. Lee was a TGIR Research Project Leader who completed a project entitled “Development of B cell responses and serological immunity following oral rotavirus vaccination in infants.” This project characterized key correlates of protective immunity post-vaccination, focusing on children in settings in which oral rotavirus vaccination has poor efficacy.