Rong Fang, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
Dr. Fang is an assistant professor in the department of Pathology. Dr. Fang has a long-standing interest in working with vector-borne intracellular pathogens, such as Rickettsia. She has gained the appropriate interdisciplinary background and experience,
with training in medicine, molecular biology, rickettsiology, immunology and clinical microbiology. With the primary goal to effectively control vector-borne diseases, the program in the Fang laboratory includes multiple aspects of infectious
diseases from basic to translational research. Utilizing the appropriate animal models, we are working on development of vaccine candidate and novel antigen-based diagnostic assay for severe rickettsioses, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
We are also interested in studying the molecular and cellular basis of host protective immune response against and pathogenesis of life-threatening diseases.
The ongoing research projects include:
Development of live-attenuated vaccine candidates against multiple fatal rickettsioses.
Revealing endothelial cell and macrophage-driven pathogenic mechanisms by which rickettsiae cause life-threatening infections.
Identification of diagnostic biomarker and development of specific diagnostic assay for rickettsial infections at the acute stage of disease.
Investigating the innate immune determinants mediating host protective response against rickettsiae and their interactions with arthropod vectors.