Meet the PI

Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D.

Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D.

Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D. trained in viral genetics using model viruses, and has a long-standing interest in how viruses evolve and cause disease. She is passionate about the power of model systems, and how their tractability is key when examining complex interactions. As such, the lab leverages genetic approaches with viruses such as coxsackievirus B3, reovirus, poliovirus, and murine norovirus. Instead of a pipeline approach, she encourages each lab member to explore a unique niche related to viral evolution and/or host response.

  • B.A. in Microbiology, Miami University, 1992-1996
  • Ph.D. in Microbiology (with Alice Telesnitsky, Ph.D.), University of Michigan, 1996-2001
  • Postdoctoral Fellow (with Karla Kirkegaard, Ph.D.), Stanford University, 2001-2005
  • Assistant Professor of Microbiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 2006-2012
  • Associate Professor of Microbiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 2012-2017
  • Professor of Microbiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 2017-present
  • Kern and Marnie Wildenthal President’s Research Council Professorship, 2018-2023
  • 2016 HHMI Faculty Scholar
  • 2012 Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases
  • 2007 Pew Scholar