Susan Baldwin, PhD

Senior Scientist


Susan Baldwin received her PhD in microbiology/immunology at Colorado State University in 1997. Her doctorate work was completed in Dr. Ian Orme's laboratory. She developed vaccines against M. tuberculosis and evaluated the efficacy of these vaccines in both the mouse and guinea pig aerosol models of infection. Her dissertation is entitled "Novel vaccine approaches against aerogenic infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Following graduation, Susan did her postdoctoral work in Dr. Christine Wilcox's laboratory, where she was awarded an NRSA grant to look at immune responses in mice following ocular infection with Herpes Simplex Virus. In October of 2000, Susan temporarily left academia and worked in an industry setting as a Research Scientist at Heska, Inc. in Fort Collins, CO. One of her main projects at Heska was to investigate the biological properties and the efficacy of five feline IFN-alpha subtypes that were being developed for potential anti-viral applications in cats. In June of 2002, Susan moved to Denver, where she was an Instructor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in Dr. J.J. Cohen's laboratory. Susan did research that led to understanding the apoptotic mechanism induced in eukaryotic cells by cyclic depsipeptides, including valinomycin and cereulide (a food poisoning toxin produced by Bacillus cereus). While at the UCHSC, Susan also taught Immunology to undergraduate and graduate students.

Susan joined IDRI as a Senior Scientist in November of 2005. She is currently working on projects related to the development of the next-generation of vaccines against M. tuberculosis using the mouse and guinea pig model of infection. She is also developing methods to evaluate the iontophoretic delivery of drugs and vaccines in the guinea pig.