Infectious Diseases: An Overview
Understanding how infectious diseases impact the immune system and vice versa is a key piece of BRI’s work. Our team aims to better understand how germs interact with the immune system and examine if and how vaccines and medicines help fight infectious diseases. Our research spans many infectious diseases, ranging from influenza to Ebola. Our team has also made crucial contributions to COVID-19 research since the beginning of the pandemic, from exploring important questions about the virus to helping test the first COVID-19 vaccines.
What Are Infectious Diseases?
Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by invaders such as viruses, fungi and bacteria. These harmful germs cause infections, which happen when germs make copies of themselves and increase in number. Infections cause different symptoms depending on where they are in the body, ranging from fever and chills to stomach pain and nausea and many other symptoms. Some of the most common infectious diseases include:
- The common cold
- COVID-19
- The flu (influenza)
- Stomach flu (gastroenteritis)
What Is the Latest Research Into Infectious Diseases?
BRI’s infectious disease research includes:
- Examining how infectious diseases impact the human immune system and vice versa.
- Understanding how vaccines work in people with immune system diseases.
- Exploring how to better tailor COVID-19 treatments and prevention to different populations.
- Understanding if and how infections trigger autoimmune diseases.
Labs Studying Infectious Disease
Bolouri Lab
Hamerman Lab
Lacy-Hulbert Lab
Stefani Lab
Ziegler Lab
Infectious Disease Clinical Research
Studies labeled as “Enrolling” are actively recruiting new participants while studies labeled as “Closed to Enrollment” are still active but no longer seeking new participants.
Please email the Clinical Trials Unit or call (206) 287-6260 for more information.
- BOOSTER EFFECTS WITH AUTOIMMUNE TREATMENTS IN PATIENTS WITH POOR RESPONSE TO INITIAL COVID-19 VACCINE
Learn more at Clinicaltrials.gov
Principal Investigator: Sandra Lord, MD
Status: Enrolling- A PHASE 3 MASTER PROTOCOL TO EVALUATE ADDITIONAL DOSE(S) OF BNT162b2 IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS PREVIOUSLY VACCINATED WITH BNT162b2
Learn more at Clinicaltrials.gov
Principal Investigator: Uma Malhotra, MD
Status: Closed to Enrollment
Have you recently had a viral infection?
Big Data Reveals Surprising Defense Against COVID-19
BRI's Vision of Immune Health
$3.5 Million to Study Down Syndrome and the Immune System
What goes wrong in the immune system that causes autoimmune disease or limits its ability to fight infections? That’s the question Bernard Khor, MD, PhD, started with 12 years ago. His search for answers led him somewhere unexpected: to people with Down syndrome.
