In M&I, we study adaptive immunology, also known as acquired immunology. The adaptive system is highly specific in that it distinguishes between different agents, recognizes a previously encountered agent, and adapts its response accordingly. When that agent is a pathogen, the adaptive response can help to clear that infection. A key feature of adaptive immunity is the development of immunological memory. This is the biology behind vaccines.

The Henry Russel Lectureship is the university’s highest honor for senior members of its active faculty. It is awarded annually to a faculty member with exceptional achievements in research, scholarship or creative endeavors, as well as an outstanding record of distinguished teaching, mentoring and service to U-M and the wider community. O’Meara who studies fungal pathogenesis in M&I, and is one of four faculty members who will receive Henry Russel Awards, the university’s highest honor for faculty members at the early to mid-career stages of their careers.

Researchers at Michigan Medicine have uncovered a key mechanism that regulates blood pressure and vascular remodeling in people with a genetic variant linked to high blood pressure.

Every year, the Endowment for the Basic Sciences recognizes a faculty and a research staff with an award. This year, Adam Lauring, PhD, was recognized with an EBS Teaching Award, and Katie McBride with a Research Staff Award.

On March 21, 2025, Faith Anderson Davis, Ph.D., defended her dissertation on Candida albicans, a fungus that naturally lives in small amounts on our mouth, skin and in our intestines. Her dissertation was titled “Adding complexity to models of Candida albicans human colonization: Natural isolates and polymicrobial interactions.” Her mentor was professor Teresa O’Meara.

Professors Yifan Wang, a parasitologist, and Christiane Wobus, a virologist, received the 2025 M&I Multiplier Award to pursue their collaborative investigation into how viral endosymbionts shape Toxoplasma virulence, immune evasion, and host interactions. Their project is titled: “Unmasking viral partners in parasites: dissecting the role of endogenous viruses in Toxoplasma gondii pathogenesis.”