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Microbiology

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Department of Microbiology

The Department of Microbiology at UT Knoxville is dedicated to providing the quality education, through both teaching and research, necessary to meet the needs of this growing field.  Our faculty members aggressively pursue research in many areas of the science: immunology; virology; microbial ecology and pathology; microbial genetics; and others.  Research projects are continuously conducted through collaboration with and support from various prominent sources, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and NASA, among others.

Undergraduate students gain valuable experience in the lab by working under one of the professors; faculty also work extensively with post-graduate level students, often publishing numerous articles on their collaborative experimentation and study.  Focus may be on such notable areas as herpes virus or coronavirus research, on studying the impact of viruses on marine and freshwater food webs, or on sequencing genes in pathogenic fungi.

Scientists examining a test sample in a lab

Microbiology in the News

  • Alison Buchan headshot photo
    Alison Buchan named 2024 AAAS FellowApril 9, 2025
    Alison Buchan, the Carolyn W. Fite Professor and associate head of the Department of Microbiology in UT’s College of Arts and Sciences, studies the physiology and ecology of these marine microbes, which she calls “the workhorses for a lot of the biogeochemical cycles that are critical for Earth’s functioning.”
  • A man and a woman in the lab
    Monteith Lab Tracks Immune ResponseFebruary 27, 2025
    Assistant Professor Andrew Monteith’s lab in the Department of Microbiology is documenting how key immune cells detect infection and how that fails to happen in people with lupus.
  • Meaghan Adler in the lab
    Defense Scholarship Supports Microbiology StudentFebruary 27, 2025
    While pursuing a PhD in microbiology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Meaghan Adler knows exactly where she’ll be starting her career. The Department of Defense (DoD) awarded her a scholarship for service, providing financial support for her studies in exchange for future employment with the DoD.

Department of Microbiology

College of Arts and Sciences

1311 Cumberland Avenue
307 Ken and Blaire Mossman Bldg.
Knoxville TN 37996-1937

Email: microbiology@utk.edu

Phone: 865-974-3441

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
865-974-1000

The flagship campus of the University of Tennessee System and partner in the Tennessee Transfer Pathway.

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