About the Department

Message from the Chair

Molecular Genetics, Microbiology & Immunology is a research and teaching Department within UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Faculty investigate diverse research topics including mechanisms regulating the stability of inflammatory cytokine messenger RNAs, mechanism and regulation of protein synthesis, selenium metabolism and translational incorporation of selenocysteine, interferon biology and clinical applications, immune tolerance, inflammation in the stem cell microenvironment, T cell apoptosis, immunogenetics, cancer immunology, stress and immune responses, virus transmission and infection, Chlamydia infection and heart diseases, HTLV-induced leukemia, AIDS and HIV infection, prions, and malaria. Our faculty members are internationally recognized experts in these fields and publish their research in top-tier research journals. As such, they are often called upon to serve on journal editorial boards and grant review panels.

Many agencies and foundations have supported our research efforts, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The New Jersey Stem Cell Commission, the Arthritis Foundation, the American Heart Association, Human Frontiers in Science Program, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Department also administers or have faculty who direct several NIH training grant awards devoted to increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in biomedical science.

The Department is involved in numerous teaching activities for both medical and graduate students. The Department is responsible for organizing and teaching within the Mechanisms of Disease and Defense course in the new curriculum for medical students. This course also involves numerous faculty members from other departments with expertise in Pathology, Pharmacology, and Epidemiology. Our faculty members also teach in core courses within the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at RWJMS (GSBS at RWJMS) curriculum, as well as other courses within the joint graduate program in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics with Rutgers University. The Department has been instrumental in the development of the new Masters of Biomedical Sciences Program in the GSBS at RWJMS.

We are very proud of our continuing contributions and accomplishments. Examine our website and feel free to contact our faculty if you have questions.

Gary Brewer, PhD
Professor and Interim Chairman