Research and instruction in the Microbial Sciences Building

Here is a sampling of some of the research and teaching programs that are housed in the Microbial Sciences Building:

• The Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, a unique educational experience that allows graduate students to complete rotations in multiple laboratories within the microbial sciences. More than 80 UW–Madison faculty in multiple departments are registered as trainers for the program, which is coordinated jointly by the Department of Bacteriology and the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology.
• The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), one of three national centers funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to explore promising sources of bioenergy such as the conversion of plants into ethanol. Although plans are for the GLBRC to eventually have its own administrative building, the Microbial Science Building will house the labs of many bioenergy-focused researchers, including Timothy Donohue, the principal investigator of the GLBRC, who studies how microbes store and convert sunlight into energy products.
• Numerous laboratories dedicated to understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying infectious diseases, such as influenza, malaria, meningitis, Lyme disease, encephalitis, herpes simplex, gonorrhea, whooping cough and urinary tract and blood stream infections. Researchers are also investigating specific aspects of the immune system, including macrophages, lymphocytes and inflammation.
• The Food Research Institute, an interdisciplinary center that investigates food-borne diseases arising from bacterial, fungal and viral contamination. FRI investigators often work with representatives from government agencies and the food industry to understand and address food-safety threats, as well as issues related to diet and disease.
• Research and development of new antibiotics: A number of scientists in the MSB are searching for next-generation antibiotics capable of fighting off increasingly serious bacterial infections that are cropping up in hospitals around the world. This research is leading to the development of an entirely new class of antibiotics that has never before been used to treat human infections.
• Several academic degree programs, including Medical Microbiology and Immunology‘s bachelor of science degree program, one of the few undergraduate degrees in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and the newly renamed bachelor of science degree in microbiology, a program in the Department of Bacteriology.