CENTER FOR TRANSLATIONAL IMMUNOLOGY
Dr. Cynthia Nau Cornelissen has about $12.95 million in federal research funding.
Dr. Cynthia Nau Cornelissen was awarded a $9.25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop new vaccines to prevent gonococcal infection and disease.
1 of 6 National Institutes of Health-funded cooperative research centers nationwide that were created to advance development of vaccines for sexually transmitted infections.
Dr. Leszek Ignatowicz has received a $1.95 million federal grant to study what causes autoimmunity in the human body.
Our Research
Cynthia Nau Cornelissen is a Distinguished University Professor and associate director of the Institute for Biomedical Sciences. Her major research interests are in bacterial pathogenesis and vaccine development against the sexually-transmitted pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhea. Notable achievements include identification of key virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of N. gonorrhoeae. Her laboratory has been continuously funded for more than 25 years.
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Piecing Together the Puzzle of Autoimmune Disease
Autoimmune diseases can affect just about any part of the body, and more than 100 types have been identified so far (some of the most common include Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, psoriasis, thyroid diseases and inflammatory bowel disease). Most have no cure and patients can face a lifetime of debilitating symptoms and loss of organ function.
“It’s now a priority to examine the role these escapees play in triggering autoimmune diseases in both animal and human patients.”
- Leszek Ignatowicz, Ph.D.
Our Researchers
Dr. Cynthia Nau Cornelissen is the director of the Center for Translational Immunology and a Distinguished University Professor. Dr. Cornelissen obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois working with Dr. Jordan Konisky. Notable achievements include identification of key virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of N. gonorrhoeae. Her laboratory has been continuously funded since 1996. She has served on the Committee for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education for the American Society for Microbiology for 15 years, six of which she served as the committee chair. She has been on the editorial board for Infection and Immunity since 1997 and was a chartered member of the National Institutes of Health study section, Bacterial Pathogenesis. She has been awarded a number of awards for teaching medical and graduate students. She has trained more than 17 graduate students as well as undergraduates and high school students.
Dr. Leszek Ignatowicz, professor at Georgia State, obtained his Ph.D. from Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wroclaw, Poland. In 2007 he was appointed a professor of immunology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. His major research interests are: immune tolerance, T cells development and regulatory CD4+Foxp3+ T cells. Notable achievements include the characterization of TCR repertoire of thymus-derived regulatory T cells and their role in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis.