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 an Associate 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 master’s 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, and host genetics.  If you were to join our graduate program, you would 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. 

You might ask 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 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. 

As an IDM graduate student you can anticipate finishing your master’s degrees in just under 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 company as we try to understand and combat what are undoubtedly going to be ongoing challenges to the world’s public health.

Todd A. Reinhart, Sc.D.
            Associate Professor and Assistant Chair
            Director of IDM Graduate Programs