Dr. Hu is currently Vice Chairman for Faculty Development in the Department of Medicine as well as Associate Chief for Research in the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious disease. In both of these roles, he has been responsible for mentoring post-doctoral fellows and young faculty in their research careers. In addition, he has served as either director or associate director of a T32 training grant for the last 10 years. As such, he is very familiar with the challenges faced by our young faculty and post-doctoral fellows and is well acquainted with the resources available to help them progress with their careers. Over the last four years, over 75% of the junior faculty members who have participated in programs he has developed for the Department have received NIH funding, including four R01s and multiple K awards.

Dr. Hu’s research has focused on Lyme disease, where he has been involved in both basic laboratory and clinical research for almost 20 years. He has participated in the development of both human and animal vaccines for Lyme disease as well as the development of new diagnostic tests. At the bench, his laboratory is interested in host-pathogen interactions between Borrelia burgdorferi and the innate immune system. Three members of his laboratory have received individual F31 or F32 awards.