Department Chair
Department Chair
Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D., was named Chair of the Department of Microbiology in May 2024. She received a B.A. in Microbiology from Miami University in 1996, a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan in 2001, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in 2005. In 2006, Dr. Pfeiffer started her independent laboratory at UT Southwestern with a focus on RNA virus pathogenesis and evolution. Her recent interests include examining the impact of intestinal microbiota and circadian rhythms on enteric virus infections. She also has a long-standing interest in viral evolution and adaptation.
Dr. Pfeiffer was named a Pew Scholar, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator of the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar. Her service has included chairing the Gordon Research Conference on Viruses and Cells, service on NIH Virology B Study Section, as a Senior Editor at the Journal of Virology, and as a member of the Board of Reviewing Editors at Science. She received the O’Donnell Award in Science from TAMEST and the Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring Award from the UT Southwestern Postdoctoral Association.