About the Infectious Disease Institute
Diagnosing infections in minutes to hours – that is the goal of the Infectious Disease Institute.
Directed by Michael Gilmore, PhD, and Associate Directors James Chodosh, MD, MPH, and Marlene Durand, MD, the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) was established in 2014 to improve the diagnosis and treatment of infections of the eye, ear, head, and neck. Research leaders from across Harvard’s academic and affiliate hospital network partner with world-leading innovative biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
An alliance with the NIH-sponsored Program on Antibiotic Resistance/Boston Area Antibiotic Resistance Network adds strength to the IDI’s overarching mission. Since its inception, this alignment has attracted more than $23 million in research funding, placing Mass. Eye and Ear at the national center of antibiotic resistance research.
One of the IDI’s key resources is its Strain and Metadata Biorepository. This database contains more than 3,000 bacterial and fungal isolates, which are being used to inform the design of next generation diagnostics and therapeutics. Genomic analyses of these strains, conducted in collaboration with the Ocular Genomics Institute at Mass. Eye and Ear, have been critical in matching etiologic agents to effective therapeutics.