Overview
Jennifer Lodge, Ph.D., a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, is Duke’s vice president for Research & Innovation.
As the university’s chief research and innovation officer, Lodge leads oversight of Duke’s $1.2 billion annual research portfolio, including grants administration, ethical practices and commercialization. Lodge works with campus and medical center research staff, faculty and trainees, and is a key figure in Duke’s connection with external partners.
Before coming to Duke in January 2022, Lodge served as vice chancellor for research and senior associate dean for research for the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL). There, she was responsible for WUSTL’s research development, ethics, education, compliance and research administration systems, and earned a reputation for encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.
Lodge’s own research is on the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. Her lab has been funded continuously by NIH for more than two decades, with as many as three prestigious R01 grants at one time. Her lab in the Duke University School of Medicine continues to explore the biochemical processes by which this fungus builds its cell walls. Such knowledge could lead to new antifungal therapies and vaccines.
Lodge is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Academy of Inventors. She is also the former chair of the Group on Research at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Immunological correlates of protection mediated by a whole organism, Cryptococcus neoformans, vaccine deficient in chitosan.
Journal Article mBio · August 14, 2024 UNLABELLED: The global burden of infections due to the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus is substantial in persons with low CD4+ T-cell counts. Previously, we deleted three chitin deacetylase genes from Cryptococcus neoformans to create a chitosan-deficient, ... Full text Link to item CiteImmune evasion by Cryptococcus gattii in vaccinated mice coinfected with C. neoformans.
Journal Article Front Immunol · 2024 Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii, the etiologic agents of cryptococcosis, cause over 100,000 deaths worldwide every year, yet no cryptococcal vaccine has progressed to clinical trials. In preclinical studies, mice vaccinated with an attenuated strain ... Full text Link to item CiteMeasuring Stress Phenotypes in Cryptococcus neoformans.
Journal Article Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · January 2024 Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen capable of surviving in a wide range of environments and hosts. It has been developed as a model organism to study fungal pathogenesis due to its fully sequenced haploid genome and optimized ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Tri-Institutional Molecular Mycology and Pathogenesis Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029Cell and Molecular Biology Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2026Preclinical studies of a Cryptococcus vaccine for AIDS patients
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2022 - 2026View All Grants