Dawn Wetzel, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Dawn Wetzel is an early-career physician-scientist who cares for children with infectious diseases and conducts basic and translational research in medically relevant parasitic diseases. She has been performing biological research throughout her undergraduate and medical training. She earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology by demonstrating that actin polymerization and calcium secretion regulate a unique form of motility and cell invasion by the Apicomplexa phylum of parasites. When she became a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow, she began to characterize the molecular mechanisms that regulate Leishmania uptake by macrophages. Her work demonstrated that preventing Leishmania entry into macrophages through genetic or chemical inhibition of the Abl family kinases decreases disease manifestations in the mouse model of leishmaniasis. This work resulted in invitations to speak at national meetings, publications, and multiple competitive grants, including a Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) from the NIH.

Dr. Wetzel's research career will focus on elucidating the molecular pathogenesis of leishmaniasis, which may lead to novel therapies to prevent infection with this important pathogen. She will also continue her clinical work in Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and have a particular interest in patients with parasitic infections.