Neima Briggs, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

Neima Briggs, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern and a member of its Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine.

Dr. Briggs holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his medical degree and his doctorate in immunology through the Medical Scientist Training Program at UTHealth Houston, where he conducted research with Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., and Jagan Sastry, Ph.D. He completed internal medicine residency training and an infectious diseases fellowship in the Physician-Scientist Training program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he then conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Immunobiology with Joseph Craft, M.D.

Prior to joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2026, Dr. Briggs served as an Instructor of Medicine at Yale, a Visiting Scientist in Parasitology at Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, and Visiting Scientist in Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Briggs’ research focuses on immunology and infectious diseases, with an emphasis on understanding host immune responses to parasitic helminth infections and translating these insights into clinical applications. His work explores immune mechanisms and host–pathogen interactions, particularly how T- and B-cell responses shape protection, tolerance, and susceptibility during chronic and recurrent infections. He has contributed to studies on vaccine development for helminths, including novel antigen and mRNA-based approaches, as well as the identification of serologic markers for diagnosing parasitic diseases. In addition, his research includes advancing rapid diagnostic platforms for pathogen detection and investigating broader immunologic phenomena such as gut antibody responses and immune modulation. Collectively, his work integrates fundamental immunology with translational research to support the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutic strategies for neglected tropical diseases.

Dr. Briggs has received multiple distinctions for his research and global health work, including recognition as a Fulbright Scholar (Spain), The Wit Family Distinguished Scholar in Inflammation Science, and recipient of the Yale Physician-Scientist Development Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund/ASTMH Tropical Medicine Fellowship (Brazil), the Patterson Trust Mentored Research Award, and the ASTMH Benjamin H. Kean Fellowship (Honduras).

Dr. Briggs is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the American Association of Immunologists, the American College of Physicians, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.