Updates by Specialty Division
Infectious Diseases
The Division of Infectious Diseases at Indiana University School of Medicine focuses on improving the health of local and global communities by preventing and treating a variety of infectious diseases. The division includes 44 faculty, 7 adjunct ID pharmacists, four to six fellows-in-training, and dozens of valued administrative, educational, and research support staff.
The division provides expert infectious diseases clinical care in Indianapolis at IU Health’s downtown academic health center and suburban facilities, at Sydney & Lois Eskenazi Health, and at Richard L. Roudebush Indianapolis VA Medical Center. The division takes particular pride in caring for people with HIV at these venues, which include two Ryan White federally-funded Tier 1 clinics.
The division’s $5 million NIH, CDC, and industry-funded research portfolio supports investigations in HIV, malaria, sexually transmitted infections (including HPV, Hemophilus ducreyi, Neisseria gonorrhea, and Chlamydia trachomatis), group B streptococus, and Clostridium difficile. Infectious diseases faculty are renowned for their innovation, from development of the Gardasil HPV vaccine to the invention of the Histoplasma and Legionella antigen rapid diagnostic tests. The division also supports numerous investigator-initiated and commercially-sponsored clinical trials to bring new therapeutics to the clinic. HIV clinical and research global health programs are also internationally recognized for their excellence and leadership by divisional faculty, primarily through collaboration with the AMPATH HIV clinical care programs in Western Kenya.
The division is particularly proud of the growing fellowship program in producing the next generation of well-trained infectious diseases clinicians and physician-scientists. Funding opportunities are available for those interested in a dedicated and extended research training experience.
News from 2023-24
Caine named president-elect of the National Medical Association
A respected Indiana University School of Medicine faculty member and health advocate will soon serve as president of the nation’s oldest and largest African American medical organization.
Virginia Caine, MD, was named president-elect of the National Medical Association – which serves as the “collective voice of African American physicians and the leading force for parity and justice in medicine and the elimination of disparities in health” – during the organization’s national convention in New Orleans. Read More.
Donation establishes Wheat Family Program of Excellence
Lawrence Joseph Wheat, MD, is an accomplished infectious disease specialist. During his tenure as an Indiana University School of Medicine faculty member, his groundbreaking research led to the development of specialized testing for a fungal lung infection often experienced by HIV-positive patients at the height of the AIDS epidemic.
Now, a generous donation from Wheat to establish the Wheat Family Program of Excellence for Transplant Infectious Diseases will help IU School of Medicine support faculty members within the specialty, with the hope of leading to further discovery.
Wheat is widely recognized as an expert in infectious diseases, particularly fungal infections. His more than 40 years in the field includes two decades as a faculty member at IU School of Medicine in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases.
Upon his retirement from the faculty, Wheat founded MiraVista Diagnostics, an Indianapolis-based clinical lab specializing in diagnostic testing for serious fungal infections. Wheat serves as the medical director and president of MiraVista Diagnostics while continuing his scientific research. He has authored more than 300 published articles on fungal infections and hundreds more on related infectious disease topics over the course of his career. Read More.
Noteworthy Awards and Recognitions
Bree Weaver, MD
Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America
Saira Butt, MD
Featured Educator of the Month, IDSA Medical Education Community of Practice
Virginia Caine, MD
Dean’s Medal of Excellence, IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health