Vermont Collaborative for Immunity and Host-Microbe Interactions (CIHMI)

About Us

Who We Are

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The Vermont Collaborative for Immunity and Host-Microbe Interactions (CIHMI; pronounced chi-mee) is an interdisciplinary, cross-departmental, and cross-university group of researchers, focused on the immune system and/or the interactions of microbes with their hosts. 

Our membership includes faculty, staff, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students, and is open to all interested.   

Mission

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  • To promote rigorous scientific interactions and discourse in a fun and stimulating way
  • To foster research collaborations among our members
  • To provide training and educational opportunities in immunology and microbiology
  • To raise the rigor, visibility, and impact of CIHMI-related research in Vermont

What We Do

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  • We host highly interactive weekly Research-in-Progress (RIP) Meetings{hyperlink} where investigators can present research findings, new research ideas, and more
  • We host a selective invited speaker seminar series program{hyperlink}
  • We host various member-initiated events like professional development workshops, social events, journal clubs, educational activities, etc

Weekly Research in Progress (RIP) Meetings

These occur (almost) every Thursday morning at 9am in HSRF300, throughout the school year. Live and editable schedule is posted here. The goal for these meetings is for members to present and discuss their current research (all stages are appropriate!).

Invited Speaker Seminar Series

Organized primarily by our trainees, these feature invited speakers whose research interests intersect with our major research themes. Schedule to be posted here

Publications

This search is filtered on PubMed to narrow the results to the most relevant studies and articles.

Education and Training

Training
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  • We have a close partnership with the Vermont Immunology and Infectious Diseases T32 training grant, currently in its 19th year of funding by the NIAID/NIH
  • Our PhD trainee members come primarily from the CMBS and NGP programs at UVM
  • Our Professional Development committee has hosted a number of events focused on expanding skillset necessary to propel the careers of our trainee members

Undergraduate and Graduate Education:

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  • Many of our faculty members teach courses in immunology and microbiology. Here are some relevant courses:
    • BHSC 3420 and MMG 3230, Immunology. This fundamental introductory immunology course is taught by Dr. Krementsov or Dr. Diehl on alternating years.
    • BHSC 6100, Advanced Immunobiology and MMG 6200, Cellular Microbiology.
      • These graduate-level fundamental courses are both recommended for PhD students pursuing research in CIHMI-affiliated labs
    • Dev’s course; Jon’s course; Leigh’s bacteriology course if offered? 

The MMG department offers numerous undergraduate courses in microbiology

Our Research

Immunity
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  • Jon Boyson (Surgery) - innate-like T cells in homeostasis and cancer
  • Dimitry Krementsov (BHSC) - genetics of autoimmunity and host-microbe interactions
  • Dev Majumdar (Surgery) - B cells, RNA biology, lipid nanoparticles
  • Matthew Poynter (Medicine) - lung immunology in asthma and critical illness

Host-Microbe Interactions
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  • Jason Botten (Medicine) - Virology and immunology of RNA viruses
  • Markus Thali (MMG) - Cell biology of HIV replication 

Join CIHMI!

Contact CIHMI Director, Dimitry Krementsov