Dr. Jeffrey D. Cirillo is an associate professor of microbial and molecular pathogenesis at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in College Station, Texas. Prior to joining the faculty at Texas A&M, Dr. Cirillo was affiliated with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Dr. Cirillo's research interests are in bacterial pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions at the molecular and cellular level. Dr. Cirillo received a grant of over $2 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support his research on real-time optical imaging and detection of tuberculosis bacteria. Dr. Cirillo has authored numerous journal articles on his research in bacterial pathogens.