With its strong emphasis on animal models of human disease and long history of producing leaders in academic and industrial settings, this department is a national leader in research on animal diseases and animal models of human diseases. Research topics include animal models of AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory lung disease. Faculty, fellows and residents control disease outbreaks in the institutional animal colonies through the Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathology and provide clinical care of research animals through the Research Animal Resources division. The department’s Retrovirus Laboratory oversees a training grant in pathobiology for pre- and post-doctoral trainees to study the molecular pathogenesis of lentiviral diseases.

Director