Graduate Programs

Overview

The Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Toledo is an exciting place to be. UToledo graduate students are mentored by some of the brightest research minds in the world. 

Our department is growing, thanks to the efforts of our nationally and internationally renowned faculty. Faculty members conduct research on infectious diseases, inflammatory disorders and organ transplant rejection. Our goal: help develop new vaccines and treatments that protect human health. 

The Medical Microbiology and Immunology track (MMIM) is part of the Biomedical Sciences program in UToledo's College of Medicine and Life Sciences. Students may pursue a: 

• Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (M.S.B.S.)  
• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) 
• M.D./Ph.D. or M.D./M.S. degree, after acceptance into UToledo's College of Medicine and Life Sciences 

Top Reasons to Study medical microbiology and immunology at UToledo

1. Full financial support.

   Medical Microbiology and Immunology graduate students are fully supported by a graduate research stipend. This allows students to focus exclusively on their research projects. Doctoral students receive full-tuition scholarships, as well. 
2. Teaching opportunities.

   Available for students interested in careers in education.  
3. Collaborative research.

   Our faculty and students work with infectious disease and immunology experts on regional, state, national and international research projects.  
4. Communication skills.

   The [Toledo] Blade newspaper publishes monthly articles by our Biomedical Science graduate students. Through this partnership, our students learn to communicate about their research in terms the public can understand, which is an important skill for careers in science. After their stories were published, some students were asked to speak to veteran and patient groups. 
   

   Our students also present their research at local, regional, national and international conferences. All students are mentored and encouraged to publish their research results in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. 
   

5. Active student groups.

   Network and learn. Most of our grad students participate in The University of Toledo Graduate Student Association and the Council of Biomedical Graduate Students, which holds an annual graduate research forum.   
6. State-of-the-art facilities.

   The Medical Microbiology and Immunology program is located on The University of Toledo Health Science Campus. Students use state-of-the-art technologies in modern, well-equipped labs to understand complex microbiology and immunology problems. Facilities include: 

   • Tissue culture core facility 
   • Roche LightCycler 96 for quantitative, real-time PCR 
   • Fluorescent and bioluminescent live-cell or whole-animal imaging 
   • Luminex multiplex cytokine detection 
   • BD FACSCalibur, FACSAria and FACSCanto for flow cytometry (FACS) and cell sorting 
   • Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) 
   • Leica multiphoton laser scanning confocal microscope 
   • Histology core facility 
   • Genetic analysis instrumentation center 
   • Blood clinical chemistry analyzer 

All graduate students in UToledo's Medical Microbiology and Immunology department conduct research and start working in labs during their first years. Most students publish their research in peer-reviewed journals. 

UToledo's Medical Microbiology and Immunology faculty members are internationally recognized in their fields. They have strong records of graduate student and post-doctoral Fellow mentoring. 

Our faculty: 

• Serve on national and international scientific committees and organizations 
• Publish extensively and act as peer reviewers on scientific journal editorial boards 
• Are officers in national professional societies 
• Are awarded national research funding from such institutions as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the American Heart Association. 

Faculty research interests include: 

• How microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) cause disease 
• Immune responses to infection 
• Autoimmune diseases (asthma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and more) 
• The development, differentiation and activation of the innate and adaptive immune systems 
• New vaccines against infectious microbes 
• The mechanisms of organ transplant rejection 

What jobs can I get with a medical microbiology and immunology degree?

UToledo faculty recognize that an M.S. or Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology opens doors to a wide range of career options. Students receive individualized training and mentoring based on their career goals, whether they want to pursue: 

• Academic research 
• Clinical trials administration 
• Government research 
• High school or higher education teaching
• Industry research 
• Policy work/consulting 

Graduates of UToledo's graduate program have been offered post-doctoral fellowships and research positions at prestigious institutions, including: 

• Duke University 
• Harvard University 
• Henry Ford Medical Center 
• Indiana University School of Medicine 
• National Institutes of Health 
• Ohio State University 
• University of Pittsburgh 
• University of West Virginia 
• Virginia Polytechnic and State Institution 
• Yale University