Cellular Microbiology & Pathogenesis

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Chair: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

EDUCATION:
He received his undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral education in Belgrade, Paris, and Chicago. He was a faculty member at the University of Texas, University of Michigan, and joined the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of New Mexico, in 2001.

MEMBERSHIPS:
Dr Deretic has served for many years as a permanent member on National Institutes of Health study sections and on panels for other funding agencies including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and was Chair of the NIH AIDS Opportunistic Infections and Cancer (AOIC) study section.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Vojo Deretic's research focuses on the role of autophagy in infection and immunity. Autophagy, a cytoplasmic pathway for the removal of damaged or surplus organelles, has been previously implicated in cancer, neurodegeneration, development, and aging. His group is one of those that made the discovery that autophagic degradation is a major effector of innate and possibly adaptive immunity mechanisms for direct elimination of intracellular microbes (such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis).