Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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Susan Jarvi, Ph.D. Susan Jarvi

Director, Pre-Pharmacy Program and Associate Professor

Susan I. Jarvi studies host-parasite and parasite-parasite interactions and influences on transmission and virulence of infectious disease. Jarvi is studying tolerance to infectious disease as evidenced through a recent population explosion of a low elevation native Hawaiian bird population despite high prevalence of Plasmodium infection. Her goal is to characterize and begin to define potentially novel mechanisms involved in tolerance to malaria in this relatively simple, geographically-isolated, natural disease system. Jarvi’s lab is also interested in continued development of molecular-based methods for the detection and evaluation of pathogen diversity, and development and implementation of vaccines.

Education

  • M.S., Veterinary and Animal Sciences (Genetics), University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Ph.D., Biology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
  • Postdoctoral Fellow at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center Duarte, CA, and at the Molecular Genetics laboratory of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

Classes and Courses

  • PHPS 504 Pharmaceutical Immunology
  • PHPS 594 Genetics and Pharmacology of Malaria

Selected Presentations and/or Publications

  • PLoS ONE 5(5) 2010: e10745. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010745
  • Molecular & Biochemical Parasitology 2009 163:114-118
  • Biology Direct 2008 3:25
  • Conservation Genetics, 2008, 9, 339-348
  • Vaccine 2008 Oct 26, 42. 5338-44
  • Molecular Ecology 2004, 13, 2157-2168

Selected Projects

Selected News Releases

Active Grants

  • INBRE

Awards and Honors

  • 1982 Excellence in Student Teaching
  • 1988 Outstanding Graduate Student, Northern Illinois University