David H. Walker, MD , Carmage
and Martha Walls Distinguished University Chair in Tropical Diseases and Professor in the Department of Pathology, is Executive Director of the CBEID. Dr. Walker has a long and distinguished career as an independent NIH-funded scientist. His research
on rickettsial and ehrlichial molecular microbiology, immunity, pathology, pathogenesis, clinical pathophysiology, epidemiology, and diagnosis has included important contributions to elucidating the protective immune mechanisms against rickettsiae
and ehrlichiae, the discovery and characterization of agents of emerging infectious diseases, description of new diseases, and contributions to the descriptions of the pathology of Lassa fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, boutonneuse fever, and
human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis. His investigation of the 1979 outbreak of anthrax in Sverdlovsk,
Russia revealed it to have been inhalational anthrax. His field research projects and training of international scientists have ranged from China, Inner Mongolia, Sicily, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Slovenia, and Japan to Cameroon. Dr. Walker served as the
Principal Investigator of the Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (WRCE) from 2003 to 2014. This $105 million NIH grant supported research to develop a number of new vaccines and point-of-care
diagnostics for NIAID Category A-C potential agents of bioterrorism and emerging infections
Alexander Bukreyev, PhD, is the Associate Director of Strategic Development of the CBEID. Alex launched his career in the United States in 1995 as a postdoctoral fellow. He subsequently served as a visiting fellow in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at NIAID, under the leadership of Dr. Peter Collins, and within the broader Laboratory of Infectious Diseases led by Dr. Robert Chanock. His work focused on respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV, and Ebola virus, with expertise in molecular virology, immunopathogenesis, and vaccine development.
Alex joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas in 2010, where he established an independent research program on Ebola and Marburg viruses, expanding later to include Lassa virus, SARS-CoV-2, hantaviruses, Rift Valley fever virus, and respiratory syncytial virus. His research is supported by NIH and DoD grants and utilizes the BSL-4 and BSL-3 facilities of the Galveston National Laboratory. He is a member of the American Society for Virology, the American Society for Microbiology, and the International Society for Vaccines. In 2022, Alex co-founded Emervax, whose mission is development of vaccines against emerging viral infections, particularly those prevalent in low-income countries of the Global South, which are often neglected. Alex is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Sherry L. Schueller, PhD is the Associate Director of Operations of the CBEID and is charged with oversight of all administrative aspects of the multiple large center grants housed in the CBEID. These grants and contracts address current research needs including the development of novel vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics against biothreat agents and emerging infectious diseases. These include Ebola, Marburg, and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, SARS-CoV-2, ehrlichiosis, and rickettsial diseases. Dr. Schueller’s research background is in the molecular biology of the innate immune response to poxvirus infection as well as the host pathology and vector biology of mosquito borne viruses including chikungunya, Mayaro, and Zika virus. She also has key grantsmanship expertise and experience in research development at UTMB assisting faculty members with over 300 research grants and contracts since 2018.