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. 

Laurent Hébert-Dufresne, PhD (at left), directs the Mathematical and Computational Predictive Modeling (MCP) Core with the guidance of inaugural MCP Core director and current Senior Advisor Jason HT Bates, PhD (at right). With key support from bioinformatics scientist Ramiro Barrantes-Reynolds, the MCP Core has provided computational modeling support services to dozens of researchers and projects at UVM. By direct interaction with the COBRE faculty, leading open modeling sessions, and through staff development, the MCP Modeling Core bridges the scientific "culture gap" between researchers with biomedical backgrounds and those with computational modeling expertise. 

Prior to becoming MCP Core Director, Dr. Hébert-Dufresne was a TGIR Research Project Leader, completing a project entitled “Network epidemiology and the quantification of behavioral interventions.” This project focused on understanding how behavioral versus biologic factors determine the spread of Ebola. His expertise includes statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics with research in complexity, network theory, and nonlinear dynamics in epidemiology/sociology/ecology.

Sean Diehl, PhD, and Jess Crothers, MD, are the interim co-directors of the Human Population Research (HPR) Core, providing consultative services for new and existing projects in areas of database design, biostatistics, data management and data analysis, clinical coordinator services, and specimen management. In addition, for major clinical/investigational product clinical trials performed by COBRE faculty, the HPR Core has assisted with database development, standard operating procedure (SOP) development and quality control (QC) of all existing SOPs, data archiving, metadata database training, and troubleshooting. The HPR Core receives key support from staff including Statistician Dorothy Dickson, Sr Clinical Research Coordinator Patti Lutton, and Lab Manager Marya Carmolli (pictured).

Prior to becoming interim co-director of the HPR Core, Dr. Crothers was a Research Project Leader, completing a project titled “Mucosal immunity to polio virus is modified by the gut microbiota, dependent upon cytotoxic cellular responses and can be enhanced via intradermal administration of a mucosally-adjuvanted inactivated polio vaccine (dmLT-IPV)." Dr. Crothers studies the role of T cells and the gut microbiota in reducing viral shedding following polio vaccination. 

Dr. Diehl is also a graduated TGIR RPL, and serves on the Administrative Core in addition to the interim co-directorship of the HPR Core. 

Sample Access Program:

Mission Statement

To catalyze innovative translational infectious disease research by facilitating investigator access to clinical infectious disease isolates and residual clinical specimens—such as blood, plasma, and discarded tissue—while ensuring regulatory compliance, ethical standards, and scientific feasibility. 

Rationale

Translational research is essential to closing the gap between laboratory discovery and clinical application in infectious diseases. Human biospecimens and isolates, particularly those derived from diverse and clinically-relevant patient populations, are critical for validating experimental findings, identifying novel biomarkers, and studying pathogen-host interactions. 

The HPR Core addresses this longstanding bottleneck by providing a structured, ethical, and compliant framework to help basic and translational scientists access and utilize residual clinical isolates and specimens from UVM Medical Center for research. 

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