Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
The Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology (PMI) at New York Medical College (NYMC) is dedicated to advancing knowledge through cutting-edge research, fostering excellence in education, and providing exceptional clinical services. With a robust faculty committed to innovation and collaboration, we strive to make significant contributions to understanding disease mechanisms and improving patient care. Whether you're a prospective student, researcher, or healthcare professional, we invite you to explore the exciting opportunities our Department has to offer.
Research
Research in the Department spans a wide range of disciplines and is supported by federal and industrial grants. Our faculty-led research programs investigate critical areas, such as host-pathogen interactions, biochemical toxicology, cancer cell biology, cell-cycle regulation, apoptosis, neurologic trauma-induced cell dysfunction, chemical carcinogenesis, free-radical pathobiology, hypersensitivity, chronic inflammation, allergy and immunology integrative medicine, and molecular genetics of diseases, including hypertension, Lyme disease, tuberculosis, and tissue engineering. Our research also focuses significantly on extracellular vesicles (EVs) and extracellular condensates (ECs), exploring their roles in health and disease. These microscopic entities play crucial roles in intercellular communication and disease progression, offering new insights into diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Faculty in the PMI department are active collaborators in numerous national and international research programs, contributing to groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in biomedical science. Research laboratories at NYMC are well equipped with modern research facilities, including Biosafety level 2+ and level 3 laboratories.
Core Research Laboratories
Additionally, the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology supports several Core Research Laboratories that internal and external individuals can use.
Core Histology Laboratory
The Core Histology Laboratory provides essential services such as routine histology, special staining, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and cryotomy, supporting researchers across the academic community.
Genomics Core Laboratory
The Genomics Core Laboratory offers access to state-of-the-art equipment including the Illumina MiSeq, and data analysis systems, facilitating high-quality genomic research.
Flow Cytometry Laboratory
Located in the former Brander Cancer Research Institute, this facility houses advanced flow cytometry equipment crucial for a wide range of research applications in pathology and immunology. It includes a BD FACS Celesta and a SONY SH800 Cell Sorter.
Research Focus and Faculty Labs
Our faculty research is supported by federal, industrial and donation-based grants. Our labs include:
Dr. Paul Arnaboldi's laboratory - BSB C04
The laboratory is focused on two primary research areas. First, it investigates immune regulation at mucosal surfaces, like those in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, to understand how these surfaces balance pathogen defense and inflammation from harmless substances. This research could improve treatments for chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases, as well as enhance mucosal vaccine development, including an intranasal vaccine against Yersinia pestis. Second, the lab works on advancing diagnostic tests for tick-transmitted diseases such as Lyme disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA), and Babesiosis. They are developing peptide-based tests for better specificity and sensitivity, creating a cytokine release assay for Lyme disease, and designing an antigen capture assay to screen for Babesia microti in blood, aiming to improve blood safety.
Dr. Shekhar Bakshi's laboratory - BSB 340
His laboratory has made significant progress towards defining the virulence mechanisms and identification of F. tularensis encoded factors, especially the robust antioxidant defense mechanisms responsible for immune subversion caused by F. tularensis. My research goals include: understanding how F. tularensis antioxidants subvert macrophage microbicidal activity; and determination of redox-sensitive signaling components that control macrophage signaling and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in response to F. tularensis infection. We have in hand both in vitro and in vivo models that faithfully replicate tularemia and a well equipped Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) laboratory to work with the highly virulent SchuS4 strain of F. tularensis.
Dr. Tetyana Cheairs' laboratory - BSB 424
A research program in my laboratory focuses on the use of non-animal models for the study of hazardous effects of chemicals as a replacement of animals in safety assessment. Specifically, we are investigating the use of the avian egg models for an extensive evaluation of multiple endpoints, including genotoxicity, teratogenicity, histopathologic alterations, and gene expression changes after exposure to various environmental chemicals, including prototype carcinogens, flavor and fragrance materials, and pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Jan Geliebter's laboratory - BS B311
We are using RNASeq to interrogate the landscape of gene expression alteration in PTC in clinical samples. By comparing PTC and samples of normal tissues from the same patients we have gained insight into the molecular changes driving PTC, as well as potential therapeutic targets. As men have a lower incidence of PTC than women, we are concentrating on the role of androgens in the etiology and progression of PTC. Our results indicate that androgens exert an anti-proliferative effect and result in a G1-S block in the cancer cell cycle.
Dr. Sudhir's Jain laboratory - BSB 428
Dr. Jain’s laboratory is focused on genetic factors dictating the propensity of the population to develop hypertension and related diseased conditions. In particular, they study single nucleotide polymorphisms in the renin- angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) with an emphasis towards the impact of this axis on the genesis of hypertension. With available NIH support, they are employing new engineered mouse lines to dissect differential regulation of target genes, whose polymorphisms have been identified in patients with hypertension. Specifically, the consequences of aging on the progression of renal and cardiovascular complications are tested in their experimental models.
Dr. XiuMin Li's laboratory - BSB 319
Dr. Li and her team take the knowledge of thousands of years of observation and refinement of TCM and break it down to individual molecules as visualized by individual peaks on a chromatograph. This allows the team to simplify the complexity of mixtures of plants/herbs, with their inherent variability, by isolating the active components and testing them in preclinical and clinical models of allergy and asthma. Nano-medicine technology breaks through another barrier of clinical application of some natural compounds, specifically the problem of poor bioavailability, resulting in reproducible, dependable, and clinically applicable botanical products. They also explore the mechanisms of the immune system, including bio-markers, and investigate the association of skin and gut microbiome with the TCM effect for improving skin and gut inflammatory conditions.
Dr. Dana Mordue's laboratory - BSB 436
She is recognized for her work on host-pathogen interactions predominantly focused on the human diseases' toxoplasmosis and babesiosis. Studies in Dr. Mordue's laboratory integrates microbiology, immunology, cell biology and systems biology and our funded by the National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense. Current studies are focused on translational research aimed at understanding key host and pathogen determinants that underlie differences in disease severity in babesiosis.
Dr. Chioma Okeoma's laboratory - BSB 328
Dr. Okeoma’s laboratory focuses on understanding how host factors expressed in host cells or present in extracellular structures, such as extracellular vesicles and extracellular condensates, protect the host against infective agents or facilitate disease manifestation. Her laboratory has led in defining the role of BST-2 in breast cancer as reported in multiple publications. Additionally, her laboratory studies the interaction of cellular components and extracellular structures and how they interplay to produce spatiotemporal phenotypes observed in physiological and pathophysiological states.
Dr. Raj Tiwari's laboratory - BSB 404
Chemoprevention, tumor immunology and cancer therapy.
Dr. Christopher Whitehurst's laboratory - BSB 314
The lab focuses on the first tumor virus discovered, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). BV is the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis (IM) and is strongly associated with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and acquired and innate immune disorders. More than 125,000 new cases of IM are reported each year in the United States, and ~200,000 new cases of EBV-associated malignancies are reported worldwide per year. EBV encodes a deubiqutinating enzyme, BPLF1, that is necessary for efficient viral infectivity and tumor formation. The lab works to better understand the role of BPLF1 in viral processes and develop treatments via targeting BPLF1.
Dr. Vishnu Chaturvedi's laboratory - BSB328
The laboratory focuses on applying whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to study the emergence and spread of bacterial and fungal pathogens, developing and validating WGS methods to enhance understanding of infectious disease dynamics and advance diagnostic tests for pathogenic fungi. They are committed to integrating new technologies into clinical microbiology. In antifungal drug research, they have pioneered rapid, sensitive susceptibility testing methods with support from pharmaceutical companies and have led efforts to standardize these methods across multiple laboratories. Their work in molecular epidemiology has significantly contributed to understanding fungal and bacterial pathogens in the U.S., including rapid outbreak investigations, characterization of unknown pathogens, and defining pathogen virulence, bridging the gap between basic and translational science.
Dr. Dazhong Xu's laboratory - BSB 455
My laboratory is interested the molecular and cellular biology of cancer. Our goal is to identify novel molecular mechanisms underlying carcinogenesis and cancer progression, with a focus on lung cancer. The lab employs various state-of-the-art molecular, cellular, and genetic tools as well as mouse models to achieve our research goals.
Academic Programs
Teaching is an important component of departmental activity. Besides providing major courses for the medical school curriculum, the Department offers Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs in Experimental Pathology and Microbiology and Immunology, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and residencies in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.
Flexible interdisciplinary graduate Pathology and Microbiology and Immunology programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are offered in the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences. These programs focus on a comprehensive study of the pathogenesis of human disease including those related to degradation of the environment. Didactic courses are designed to foster analytical problem-solving based on a secure knowledge of the fundamentals of cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, and systemic pathology, as well as on the biological effects of environmental pollutants and their role in the pathogenesis of environmentally caused disease. Other options include an M.D. in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, an NAACLS-accredited program that offers a learning environment in which the student acquires practical laboratory knowledge and critical thinking skills while having access to theoretical training by highly qualified instructors.
Pathology, and Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. and M.S. Degrees Offered
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Pathology
- Master of Science (M.S.) in Pathology
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Microbiology and Immunology
- Master of Science (M.S.) In Microbiology and Immunology
- Master of Science (M.S. ) in Clinical Laboratory Sciences
Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency
The Department also supports the ACGME-accredited residency program in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at NYMC’s major clinical affiliate, Westchester Medical Center. This program provides a unique educational experience and affords training that prepares the residents for either an academic- or a community-based career pathway.
Clinical Service
The Department provides pathology clinical service at Westchester Medical Center through its team of clinical faculty who are board-certified in various subspecialties in pathology and laboratory medicine. The state-of-the-art clinical services include comprehensive diagnostics and consultations services in anatomic pathology, biochemical genetics, blood bank and transfusion services, clinical chemistry, cytogenetics, diagnostic immunology, flow cytometry, hematology, molecular pathology, virology, microbiology, point-of-care, special hematology, and transplant immunogenetics, among others.
Contact Us
Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Basic Science Building
Valhalla, NY 10595
Phone: (914) 594-4175
Fax: (914) 594-4163
Humayun Islam, M.D., Ph.D.
Chairman and Professor
Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
(914) 594-4150
humayun_islam@nymc.edu
Alejandra Puerta, M.P.H.
Senior Associate Administrator
(914) 594-3084
apuerta@nymc.edu
Tontabeta Robinson-Galbraith
Project Coordinator
(914) 594-4179
t_robinsongalbraith@nymc.edu
Noah Ramirez
Project Coordinator
(914) 594-4164
noah_ramirez@nymc.edu
Elba Osorio
Secretary III
(914) 594-3085
elba_osorio@nymc.edu