Marcia Firmani, PhD, MSPH

Associate Professor
Primary Department
Biomedical Laboratory Sciences
Affiliation
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Research Interests

Dr. Firmani is an expert in bacterial pathogenesis with extensive biosafety-level 2, 3 and 4 laboratory experience.  She has performed biothreat agent characterization and her main area of research has focused on the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factors, comparing fitness among clinical isolates, and investigating Mycobacterium host-immune interactions. In addition to Mycobacterium research, she mentors graduate student transfusion medicine research projects at the VSTC campus using Mirasol Pathogen Reduction Technology through an MTA with Terumo, BCT. In addition to her laboratory research, she participates in academic integrity, laboratory simulations, and laboratory science workforce development projects.

Keywords

health function, Bacterial pathogenesis, tuberculosis, infectious diseases, molecular biology, reactive oxygen species, HIV, medical education, Academic Integrity, Pathogen Reduction Technology,

Research Level
T0 / T1: Basic Science Discovery and Initial Translation to Humans
T3: Translation to Practice
T4: Translation to Population Health
Research Method(s)
  • Applying Theory, Measurement, and Methods Promoting Wellness and Healthy Living
  • Developing novel interventions
  • Epidemiologic investigations
  • Microbial and Molecular laboratory techniques
  • Survey implementation and analyses
  • Biomedical Informatics and Data Analytics