Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases
More than three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases affecting humans are zoonotic. Over the past two decades, the world has witnessed outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, avian influenza, West Nile virus, and SARS-CoV-2, among others. Meanwhile, longstanding infections such as malaria and dengue remain persistent global threats.
At the same time, the rise of antibiotic resistance—particularly in healthcare settings—poses a critical public health challenge. As resistance spreads and zoonotic pathogens continue to emerge and re-emerge at an alarming pace, coordinated research and response efforts across human, animal, and environmental health are more urgent than ever.
our mission
IIZD is Penn Vet’s One Health response to the rising threat of zoonotic diseases – locally and globally. Our mission is to confront the next zoonotic outbreak by fostering cross-campus collaboration, driving scientific innovation, and strengthening the infrastructure of one of the nation’s largest zoonotic disease programs.
Why Penn Vet
We have one of the largest zoonotic disease programs in the nation, rooted in our extensive faculty network and distinctive geography. Penn Vet’s campus in Philadelphia neighbors the University of Pennsylvania’s twelve schools, including the medical and nursing schools, and the School of Arts and Sciences. Our New Bolton Center campus is surrounded by a region densely populated with dairy farms and agriculture. This topography brings Penn’s scientists together with incredible resources spurring cross-disciplinary collaboration to tackle monumental challenges, from chronic and fatal disease to biosecurity and antimicrobial stewardship, to climate change.
Penn Vet is a valuable partner to industry, specifically to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, as well as to several leading regional and national laboratory networks and health commissions.
DIRECTOR, Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases
Christopher A. Hunter, PhD
Mindy Halikman Heyer Distinguished Professor of Pathobiology
Research focus
mRNA Initiative
Penn Vet’s mRNA Research Initiative will fast-track the development of veterinary mRNA-based vaccines and host-directed therapies.
Scientific findings from these basic studies will inform the project’s goal to develop veterinary vaccines, including a vaccine for avian influenza in poultry, and a vaccine for viral infections in swine.
Evolutionary researcH
Center for Host-Microbial Interactions
The Penn Vet Center for Host-Microbial Interactions (CHMI) is an interdisciplinary center that helps faculty leverage cutting-edge genomic approaches to understand how microbes (viruses, bacteria, and parasites) influence animal health and disease. These so-called ‘host-microbial interactions’ represent an ongoing evolutionary arms race between mammals and the microbial world we live in.
research focus
CREATE
Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are among the greatest threats to animal and human health, as they are often nearly impossible to treat with antibiotics. CRE can spread silently through veterinary hospitals, establishing environmental reservoirs and potentially transmitting to animals and people. The CREATE website is a resource for veterinarians, veterinary hospital administrators, and veterinary laboratories to support preparedness, response, and accurate detection of CRE.
Funding Opportunities
Symposium
A Pennsylvania study of deer and ticks at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine could shape public health and safety across the Commonwealth
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet), in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, are studying the complex interactions between ticks, pathogens, hosts, and their…
Improving T-cell responses to vaccines (link is external)
Penn Vet and Penn Medicine researchers have modified mRNA vaccines to include the cytokine IL-12 and improve T-cell responses which could improve the body’s ability to fight infections.
Understanding the immune response to a persistent pathogen (link is external)
Penn Vet researchers show that the immune system can recognize and control the latent stage of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, a finding that can inform the study of latency in…