Dr. George Stewart, who joined the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine last year as the McKee-Missouri Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis, was appointed chairman of the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology.

His appointment follows a national search lead by retiring chairman Dr. Gerald Buening.

The mission of the Pathobiology Department is to provide a link between the basic and clinical sciences. This involves acquiring, advancing, and disseminating knowledge in pathology, parasitology, microbiology, immunology, laboratory animal medicine, comparative medicine, genetics, and related disciplines that will lead to better diagnosis, control, and prevention of animal diseases.

The department provides instruction to veterinary medical and graduate
students. It also provides diagnostic and research services through the
Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and Research Animal Investigative Laboratory.

Before coming to MU, Dr. Stewart was a professor of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University. His KSU research involved a molecular genetic approach to define the components of bacterial cell division. His work in the laboratory identified two genetic triggers involved in determining the site at which the cell division forms. Such knowledge is important in the development of broad spectrum antibacterial chemotherapeutic agents.

Another area of research involves the process about how certain pathogens express toxic proteins.

Dr. Stewart earned his undergraduate degree from North Texas State University. His 1980 PhD came from the University of Texas Health Science Center-Dallas.

As the MU Charles & Charlene McKee Professor in Microbial Pathogenesis, Dr. Stewart studies how diseases occur and are spread. In keeping with the wishes of the McKees, his research mostly involves problems of food-producing animals, such as cattle and hogs.

Research into microbial pathogenesis can touch a broad range of scientific disciplines including cancer biology, microbiology, immunology, virology, cell biology, genetics, tissue biology, and neuroscience. Microbial pathogens can be bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that together account for a large percentage of acute and chronic human diseases. Answering fundamental questions regarding host-microbe interactions requires an interdisciplinary approach, including microbiology, genomics, informatics, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, epidemiology and cell biology.

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