Pathobiology is the study of pathogenic biological agents and interactions with their hosts. The program promotes a comparative, multidisciplinary approach to pathogenesis that integrates research on pathogen behavior and plant and animal defense against parasites, fungi, bacteria, viruses and viroids.

Specific faculty research interests include biological control strategies (Hutcheson, Nuss, O'Brochta, Straney); innate immunity (Culver, Wu); pathogen-mediated symptom expression (Culver, Nuss, Xiao); pathology of programmed cell death (Culver); plant defense and stress responses (Culver, Dube, Xiao); signal transduction underlying microbial pathogenesis (Hutcheson, Nuss, Straney); vaccine development (Bentley).