WASHINGTON (June 6, 2019) — Sanjay B. Maggirwar, PhD, MBA, has been selected to serve as chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He will also serve as a professor in the department.
"With an impressive portfolio of research in the underlying causes of HIV-associated conditions, we are pleased that Dr. Maggirwar will bring his work and leadership to the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences,” said Jeffrey S. Akman, MD ’81, RESD ’85, vice president for health affairs, Walter A. Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine, and dean of the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “We believe his vision and expertise will lead the department into a new phase of growth and development.”
Maggirwar was most recently a professor and vice-chair in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He was also chair of the Rochester Vaccine Fellowship Program. His main research focus is on the inflammatory secondary complications of HIV infection experienced by those living longer with the disease, compared to their aging, uninfected counterparts. One of his major research projects looks at the inflammatory mechanisms associated with HIV-1 dementia. He also leads research projects looking at platelet-mediated neuroinflammatory responses to HIV, accelerated vascular aging in those undergoing combination antiretroviral therapy, and more.
Maggirwar received his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Pune in Pune, India and his MBA in Marketing at the Marathwada University in Aurangabad, India. His postdoctoral training was completed in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He has published nearly 100 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and has been invited to give seminars and present at conferences and symposia around the world. In 2017, he received the “School of Medicine and Dentistry Faculty Academic Mentoring Award” from the University of Rochester Medical Center and in 2016, received the “T32 Outstanding Program Director” award. He was also a recipient of the “Distinguished Service Award” from the Society on Neuroimmune Pharmacology.
The Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences has an international reputation for advancing knowledge and developing treatments for some of the most socioeconomically devastating infectious diseases in the world. Signature programs in the department focus on the study of HIV/AIDS, toxoplasmosis, flaviviruses, helminth infections, and helminth-induced cancers. The Department is currently home to 11 tenured/tenure-track faculty members and four faculty members with research appointments.
In addition to providing management and leadership to the department, Maggirwar is responsible for maintaining an active, externally-funded research program; overseeing the department’s research centers and collaborative research partnership; participating in and coordinating the educational programs in the department; and engaging in service to the School and University. He is charged with fulfilling the mission and goals of the department to unlock the mysteries of biologic processes at the molecular and genomic level, to translate discoveries into practical therapies and vaccines, and to educate medical, allied health, graduate, and undergraduate students and train highly competent researchers in the field of immunology, virology, HIV/AIDS, parasitology, cancer biology, and biobanking.
“I am excited to join the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences as chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine,” said Maggirwar. “I am confident that together we will continue to achieve great things.”
Maggirwar will assume the role of chair on July 1, 2019.
