Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Department of Infectious Diseases
GRA Eminent Scholar in Immunology and Translational Biomedicine, Professor
Expertise

Immunology | Immunology and Infectious Disease | Infectious Disease | Microbiology | Vaccinology

Biography

Karen Norris, PhD, received her doctorate in biomedical sciences and microbiology from Wright State University School of Medicine and completed post-doctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute.  Dr. Norris was appointed as Assistant Professor in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, then joined the newly formed Department of Immunology at Pitt in 2002.  In 2016, Dr. Norris was named Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Translational Medicine and Immunology and became a member of the University of Georgia Center for Vaccines and Immunology.  Dr. Norris is a Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  Dr. Norris conducts research in immunology and infectious diseases with emphasis on vaccine development,  co-morbidities and opportunistic infections associated with HIV infection, chronic immune activation and aging.  She has developed a team of investigators and collaborators who provide expertise in all aspects of these studies including veterinary, pulmonary, cardiology, pathology, immunology, radiology, virology and immunology. This team has been successful in establishing the first non-human primate models of Pneumocystis pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary arterial hypertension.  Current studies are underway to test the efficacy of Pneumocystis vaccine in pre-clinical models and develop therapeutic interventions to treat inflammation-mediated diseases including diabetes, pulmonary hypertension, RSV and COPD.

Research Interests

  • Immunology and Infectious Diseases
  • Vaccine development for prevention of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) and COPD
  • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection—treatment and vaccine development
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); Immune Activation and Aging
  • Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); Immune-mediated mechanisms of pathogenesis
  • Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome; therapeutic testing; chronic immune activation/inflammation
  • Age-related Immunology

Educational Background

PhD, Biomedical Sciences and Microbiology, Wright State University

BS, Bowling Green University

Selected Publications

Search PubMed for “Norris KA”

Cobos Jiménez V, Rabacal W, Rayens E, Norris KA.Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2019;15(9):2075-2080. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2019.1631135. Epub 2019 Jul 26.PMID: 31348719

Schweitzer F, Tarantelli R, Rayens E, Kling HM, Mattila JT, Norris KA.AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2019 Jan;35(1):63-74. doi: 10.1089/AID.2018.0132. Epub 2018 Oct 30.PMID: 30229666

Tarantelli RA, Schweitzer F, Simon MA, Vanderpool RR, Christman I, Rayens E, Kling HM, Zullo T, Carney JP, Lopresti BJ, Bertero T, Chan SY, Norris KA.Comp Med. 2018 Dec 1;68(6):461-473. doi: 10.30802/AALAS-CM-18-000012. Epub 2018 Dec 12.PMID: 30541636

Bourgeois A, Bonnet S, Breuils-Bonnet S, Habbout K, Paradis R, Tremblay E, Lampron MC, Orcholski ME, Potus F, Bertero T, Peterlini T, Chan SY, Norris KA, Paulin R, Provencher S, Boucherat O.Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2019 Aug;39(8):1667-1681. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.312537. Epub 2019 May 16.PMID: 31092016

Rabacal W, Schweitzer F, Rayens E, Tarantelli R, Whang P, Jimenez VC, Outwater JA, Norris KA.Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 27;9(1):19832. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-55301-9.PMID: 31882598

Bertero T, Oldham WM, Cottrill KA, Pisano S, Vanderpool RR, Yu Q, Zhao J, Tai Y, Tang Y, Zhang YY, Rehman S, Sugahara M, Qi Z, Gorcsan J 3rd, Vargas SO, Saggar R, Saggar R, Wallace WD, Ross DJ, Haley KJ, Waxman AB, Parikh VN, De Marco T, Hsue PY, Morris A, Simon MA, Norris KA, Gaggioli C, Loscalzo J, Fessel J, Chan SY.J Clin Invest. 2016 Sep 1;126(9):3313-35. doi: 10.1172/JCI86387. Epub 2016 Aug 22.PMID: 27548520

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