Welcome

Hello and welcome! If you’ve arrived here you must be interested in graduate programs in infectious diseases. We offer four graduate degrees within The Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM), and I invite you to look through the information here to learn more about them.

My name is Todd Reinhart and I’m a Professor in IDM studying the immunopathology of infectious diseases that constitute important global public health problems. My fellow faculty members and I employ study systems that are focused on infectious diseases and that are useful tools to train masters and doctoral level students in multiple facets of these pressing problems. As you look through our web site you’ll see that we have expert investigators studying the entire spectrum from the microbes, per se, on up to the populations of individuals that are infected or at risk for infection. HIV/AIDS is a major collective focus of ours, but we also study other infectious diseases that intersect with this problem, including herpesvirus infections, hepatitis C virus, malaria, tuberculosis, and host genetics. By joining our graduate program, you will likely find yourself engaged on one of these laboratory-based projects, or other projects helping to develop vaccines to prevent infections, train health care providers that treat infected individuals, or educate at-risk populations of people.

So what is unique about our programs? Being embedded in a fully-accredited school of public health, our MS and PhD students participate in courses and research projects that have public health angles and opportunities. Conversely, our MPH and DrPH students obtain these degrees in the context of a faculty engaged in bench and community-based research. And these are opportunities in the third best funded school of public health in the country!

You might also ask what it is like to live in Pittsburgh. Having lived here for more than 10 years now, I am still pleasantly surprised. You will find that the industrial legacy here is palpable, but no longer very visible. In its place are educational, banking, and health care industries. The city continues to revitalize and feels like it is on the leading edge of a rebirth. Education, the arts, and the outdoors are all here in great vigor -- and in a very affordable economic environment. We are considered the most livable city in the US right now, and on top of that, in the past four months the Steelers have won the Superbowl and the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup!

As an IDM graduate student you can anticipate finishing your master’s degrees in two years or your doctoral degree in about five and a half years, on average. Explore our website and see the many possibilities and opportunities here. If something specific catches your eye, I encourage you to contact us, let us know about your interest, and consider applying to our programs!

If your interest in infectious diseases and your willingness to work hard match ours, we’ll make good partners in our search to understand and combat what are undoubtedly going to be new and ongoing challenges to the world’s public health.

Todd A. Reinhart, ScD
Professor and Assistant Chair
Director of IDM Graduate Programs