Vern B. Carruthers, Ph.D.
University of Michigan Medical School
Vern B. Carruthers, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan (U-M) Medical School. His research centers on uncovering the mechanisms behind parasite pathogenesis and persistence. Carruthers previously served as associate chair of his department at U-M.
Carruthers earned his Ph.D. from Western University in Canada and completed postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University and Washington University in St. Louis. Before joining the University of Michigan, he held faculty appointments as assistant and associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. For more than 25 years, his laboratory has received continuous NIH funding to advance understanding of the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii, including how it invades and exits host cells, acquires vital nutrients, harnesses host cellular homeostasis to persist, and how these processes can inform preclinical drug development.
Carruthers has contributed to the scientific community through service as associate editor for PLOS Pathogens and membership on editorial boards of several major journals. His accomplishments have been recognized with multiple honors, such as the Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Investigator in Molecular Parasitology Award; the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Molecular, Cellular, and Immunoparasitology Scientific Award; the U-M Endowment for the Basic Sciences Recognition Award; U-M Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award and the U-M Frederick G. Novy Recognition Award. He is an elected fellow of both the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.
Carruthers earned his Ph.D. from Western University in Canada and completed postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University and Washington University in St. Louis. Before joining the University of Michigan, he held faculty appointments as assistant and associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. For more than 25 years, his laboratory has received continuous NIH funding to advance understanding of the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii, including how it invades and exits host cells, acquires vital nutrients, harnesses host cellular homeostasis to persist, and how these processes can inform preclinical drug development.
Carruthers has contributed to the scientific community through service as associate editor for PLOS Pathogens and membership on editorial boards of several major journals. His accomplishments have been recognized with multiple honors, such as the Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Investigator in Molecular Parasitology Award; the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Molecular, Cellular, and Immunoparasitology Scientific Award; the U-M Endowment for the Basic Sciences Recognition Award; U-M Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award and the U-M Frederick G. Novy Recognition Award. He is an elected fellow of both the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.