I would like to welcome you to the home page of the Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology (EPIM) at the Faculty of Medicine (FM), American University of Beirut (AUB).
Our Department is invested in evolving the heavily intertwined sciences of Experimental Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology. Experimental Pathology is the discipline of studying disease mechanisms by utilizing both molecular and microscopy-associated methods to examine organs, tissues and cells in addition to other types of samples. While Microbiology is concerned in studying various types of microorganisms phenotypically and genotypically, Immunology examines biological systems that combat foreign or pathogenic microorganisms, cells and toxins among other types of possible harmful agents. Our endeavors of contributing to the evolution of these fields stems from the research conducted by our faculty members, who are also members of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR), FM, AUB. This research includes genetics and mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents, discovery of novel natural products with anti-infective activity against bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases, molecular epidemiology of bacterial diseases, immune responses to viral DNA, primary immunodeficiency disorders, genetic and environmental associations with autoimmune diseases, genetics and epidemiology of respiratory and gastroenteric viruses, virus-host interactions, the use of Drosophila melanogaster as a cancer model, and host responses to parasitic infections, among other research ventures in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a number of local and international research institutions and Universities.
Several types of students call the Department their home as both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology and Immunology are offered under the umbrella of the Biomedical Sciences graduate program at the FM, AUB. Our vibrant community also includes medical research fellows, post-doctoral researchers as well as visitors from other institutions. The Department is additionally involved in teaching medical students, nursing students and medical laboratory sciences students as well.
In conclusion, I invite you to browse the webpages of our Department and to get introduced to a dynamic group of researchers, students and academicians at the forefront of scientific discovery. Our aim, as that of the Faculty of Medicine, is to lead, to progress, to inspire and hence in that spirit I encourage you to get acquainted with our research efforts and activities linked to in our home page.
Ghassan M. Matar, MSc., PhD
Professor and Chairperson
Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology
Associate Director and Laboratory Director, Center for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR)