Ilhem Messaoudi Powers, PhD

Professor, Joint Faculty

Dr. Messaoudi is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Kentucky, College of Medicine. Dr. Messaoudi obtained her Bachelor of Science from Lafayette College and her PhD from Weill Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Cornell University)/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This was followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute at Oregon Health and Science University. 

After completing her postdoctoral training, Dr. Messaoudi held faculty positions at Oregon Health and Science University and the University of California (Riverside and Irvine campuses) before moving to the University of Kentucky. The Messaoudi laboratory uses a combination of experimental and computational approaches to address fundamental questions related to immunity and host defense 1) Impact of advanced age on immune fitness and ability to respond to infection; 2) Modulation of immunity at the maternal-fetal interface by maternal obesity or substance use disorder; 3) Impact of chronic ethanol consumption on immune functions; and 4) Pathogenesis of emerging and re-emerging pathogens.