Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases

    More than three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases that affect humans are zoonotic. In the past two decades, outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, swine influenza, avian influenza, West Nile virus, SARS CoV-2 — and others — have occurred around the world. Other established infections, such as malaria and dengue, continue to be a global concern.

    The emergence of antibiotic resistance to infections — particularly in hospital settings — creates a public health blind spot, while emerging and re-emerging infectious zoonotic agents continue to grow at alarming speed.

    our mission

    Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases works to integrate the core values of One Health; expanding the research of infectious agents and to advancing our ability to react to new diseases — both locally and globally — for the benefit of populations and communities. We align our educational initiatives to support and develop the infectious disease workforce of tomorrow.

    IIZD logo

    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. 

    virus image from the Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases
    an image of a dna molecule and a virus

    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. 

    viruses are shown in this 3d illustration

    research focus

    CREATE

    Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are among one of the greatest threats to animal and human health given that they are often impossible to treat with antibiotics. They can spread silently throughout veterinary hospitals while setting up environmental reservoirs and spread to animals and possibly people. The CREATE website aims to be a resource to veterinarians, veterinary hospital administrators, and veterinary laboratories to help prepare for, respond to, and appropriately detect CRE.

    petri dish
    closeup of petri dish

    Research

    We focus on the prevention of zoonotic emerging and reemerging infectious diseases within local, regional, and global contexts. 
    test tubes in lab

    Resources

    Shared tools, laboratories, and facilities are an integral part of research and education.
    Dean speaking at symposium

    Symposium

    This annual symposium brings together basic, translational, and clinician scientists who research infectious diseases at Penn Vet to discuss their latest discoveries. 
    a tick is sitting on a green leaf

    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…

    A person in a mask holding a small bottle.

    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.

    This image shows Toxoplasma gondii (red) and a neuron (green) in a mouse brain.

    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…