Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D. , FASTMH, FACP

Professor and Chair

Training & Education

Dr. Beth Kirkpatrick received her M.D. from Albany Medical College. She performed an internship, residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Rochester. Her Fellowship in Infectious Diseases was performed at Johns Hopkins University, which included clinical sub-specialty training and training in both basic and clinical/translational research under Dr. Cynthia L. Sears and Dr. David A. Sack. During her clinical fellowship, she received additional training in tropical diseases. Dr. Kirkpatrick joined the faculty of the University of Vermont in fall of 1999.

Research Interests

The field of infectious diseases is endlessly fascinating. On a global scale, infections and the microbes that cause them may exist in quiet harmony within a human host or cause devastating illness on an individual or societal scale. The human immune system responds to innocuous and pathogenic microbial exposures continuously, via cascades of immune events that are usually both precisely calibrated and extremely complex. We still have a lot to learn about even the fundamentals of human immunity. 

The study of human vaccines and the host immune response to infections leverages these interests into research that will improve global human health, with a special focus on populations with the greatest need-developing countries and under-served populations. My research interests and those of the UVM Vaccine Testing Center focus on the advancement of new vaccines of global importance and the human immune responses that underpin the effectiveness of the vaccines. We work on understanding and measuring the human immunology components necessary for protection from infectious diseases (including at mucosal surfaces) and immune correlates of protection following vaccination. Although we study many diverse vaccines, our work has focused on Flaviviruses (dengue, West Nile, Zika) and enteric infections (Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter jejuni, Rotavirus).

Featured Publications

Lee B, Carmolli M, Dickson DM, Colgate ER, Diehl SA, Uddin MI, Islam S, Hossain M, Rafique TA, Bhulyan TR, Alam M, Nayak U, Mychaleckyj JC, McNeal MM, Petri WA Jr, Qadri F, Haque R, Kirkpatrick BD. Rotavirus-specific IgA Responses are Impaired and Serve as a Sub-Optimal Correlate of Protection among Infants in Bangladesh. Clin Infect Dis 2018. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy076 

Whitehead SS, Durbin AP, Diehl SA, Pierce KK, Elwood D, Eli S, Carmolli MP, Tibery CM, Hynes N, Jo M, Lovchik JM, Larsson CJ, Doty EA, Dickson DM, Luke C, Subbarao K, Kirkpatrick BD. In a randomized trial, the live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine TV003 is well-tolerated and highly immunogenic in subjects with flavivirus exposure prior to vaccination. PLOS NTD 2017; 8(11): e0005584

Kirkpatrick BD, Whitehead SS, Pierce KK, Tibery CM, Grier P, Hynes N, Larsson CJ, Sabundao B, Talaat K, Carmolli MP, Luke CJ, Diehl SA, Durbin AP. The live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine TV003 elicits complete protection against dengue virus serotype 2 infection in a human challenge mode. Science Translational Medicine. 2016; 8 (330): 330ra36

Kirkpatrick BD, Lyon CE, Porter CK, Maue AC, Guerry P, Pierce KK, Carmolli MP, Riddle MS, Larsson CJ, Hawk D, Dill EA, Fingar A, Poly F, Hoq F, Tribble DR. Lack of Homologous Protection Against Campylobacter jejuni CG8421 in a Human Challenge Model. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2013; 57 (8): 1106-1113.

All Kirkpatrick publications

Beth Kirkpatrick, MD, head shot in white coat