John Kearney, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Endowed Professor in Immunology in the UAB Department of Microbiology, will officially retire from UAB on Sept. 30, 2025, after more than five decades of service to the institution.

At a time when science is reimagining what it means to prevent and potentially cure HIV, UAB Microbiology researchers carried their discoveries to the global stage.

UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office welcomed 18 individuals in its 11th cohort of Institute for Leadership in August 2025.

J. Victor Garcia-Martinez, Ph.D., professor and chair, Charles H. McCauley Endowed Chair, delivered the UAB Department of Microbiology’s inaugural State of the Department address on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. Garcia-Martinez, who joined the department as chair in August 2023, covered several aspects of the department’s research-driven and educational missions while highlighting the department’s recent accomplishments and forward-facing goals.

A multi-institutional study led by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) has revealed a previously underappreciated mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 infection contributes to long-term lung damage. The study, published in Nature Microbiology, demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 uniquely induces the formation of foam cells—lipid-laden macrophages with pro-fibrotic and pro-thrombotic properties—in human lung tissue.

A recent deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York is a stark reminder that this invisible threat could be lurking in the water mist you breathe every day, from your shower to a decorative fountain or a building’s cooling towers. Though it feels like a new danger, the bacteria behind this illness have haunted public health for nearly 50 years. 

It starts quietly, a bite or a scratch, and by the time symptoms surface, it’s often too late. Rabies isn’t just a distant threat—it’s alive and present here in Alabama. Prevention remains critical, but once symptoms appear, treatment options are extremely limited. That’s because rabies hides behind a complex molecular shield that makes it nearly impossible to fight.

Jan Novak, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology, has been named the Inaugural Holder of the Jiri Mestecky Endowed Professorship in Microbiology.

The UAB Department of Microbiology welcomed Hongjin Zheng, Ph.D., as associate professor in June 2025.

Fran Lund, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology and director of the UAB Immunology Institute, along with other UAB researchers, recently published a study in Immunity illustrating the crucial role a protein called T-bet plays in protecting the body’s immune response to influenza.

For the first time in its history, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) will hold its annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, hosted by Elliot Lefkowitz, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology. 

How research enriches the medical school experience. Federico Prokopczuk is in his fourth year as an M.D./Ph.D. trainee. A native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, he graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology before joining the Heersink School of Medicine in June 2021.

The UAB Department of Microbiology is happy to welcome graduate students who have recently joined UAB Microbiology labs for their training.

Each year, rabies kills thousands of people worldwide, and it remains a silent threat right here in Alabama. Often transmitted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, this viral disease is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Yet, with timely action and widespread vaccination, rabies is entirely preventable. Researchers in the UAB Department of Microbiology are working to understand the viruses and other pathogens at a molecular level, supporting new advances in diagnosis, treatment, and public health preparedness.

The UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center recently announced five winners of the O’Neal Invests grant awards, two generously funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA).

You’re not the only one digesting your lunch—so are your microbes. Every time you eat, an entire ecosystem inside your gut gets to work, breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and boosting your immune system. Probiotics, live microorganisms found in certain bacteria and yeasts, are at the heart of this process. But understanding how they function (and why you should care) can be more complicated than it seems.

Kansas recently confirmed one of the largest Tuberculosis outbreaks in U.S. history. This has prompted renewed focus on prevention efforts and public health preparedness. While the United States maintains low TB incidence rates globally, the country has experienced a significant increase in cases in the last few years.

The UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine recognized 15 faculty members for their outstanding contributions to research, education, and clinical care at the Spring 2025 Endowed Chairs and Professorships Reception.

The David E. Wells Memorial Symposium, a longstanding tradition in the UAB Department of Microbiology, will be held this year on May 21. The event will feature three student presentations and the David E. Wells Memorial Lecture given by Anne Moscona, M.D., Sheri L. Morrison Professor of Immunology, Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Pediatrics and Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University.

Eight members of the Department of Microbiology were recently recognized for 20-plus years of service to UAB at a Service Awards reception on April 8, 2025.