Maria Gomes-Solecki
DVM
Dr. Maria Gomes-Solecki is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Biochemistry at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She received her DVM from the University of Lisbon, completed a fellowship at the National Institute of Technology in Lisbon, and Post-doctoral training at the State University of New York-Stony Brook.
Work in Dr. Gomes-Solecki’s laboratory focuses on development of oral vaccine delivery vehicles using commensal bacteria against microbial pathogens. They use a number of tools – microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry and immunology – to investigate host-pathogen interactions, to understand how bacterial and host factors lead to immune evasion and to dissect the immunological mechanisms by which effective oral vaccines induce protective immunity. Major projects relate to the development of reservoir targeted vaccines against spirochetal diseases, such as Lyme disease and Leptospirosis. Other projects relate to the development of vaccines against Melioidosis and Avian Flu.
Dr. Gomes-Solecki is a Collaborator on the grant.