The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine will welcome Karen Norris, Ph.D., as a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Immunology and Translational Biomedical Research on September 1. The position is within the college’s Department of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Norris, who is currently a professor of immunology at the University of Pittsburgh, will also be a part of UGA’s newly developed Center for Vaccines and Immunology. “I am pleased that Dr. Norris will be joining UGA,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Her innovative work will expand the outstanding infectious disease research already being conducted here and will contribute significantly to the university’s efforts to translate research into treatments for some of the world’s most deadly diseases.” Norris’ research focuses on infectious and chronic diseases, including HIV, pulmonary diseases, inflammatory diseases and diabetes. She has developed a number of highly relevant disease models, which she uses to understand the basic mechanisms of disease susceptibility and progression, and to test interventions that treat or prevent disease. “I am very pleased to join the faculty of the University of Georgia and honored to be recognized by the Georgia Research Alliance as an Eminent Scholar,” Norris said. “This is an exciting time of growth for biomedical research at UGA, particularly in the areas of infectious diseases and vaccine development, and I look forward to working with colleagues at UGA, the Georgia Research Alliance and the greater Georgia research community on the development of novel vaccines and immunotherapeutics.”
