James B. Kaper, PhD, the James and Carolyn Frenkil Distinguished Dean's Professor and Chair of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Department of Microbiology and Immunology, will retire after more than 45 years of service, Dean Mark T. Gladwin announced today. Joao H. F. Pedra, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at UMSOM, has been appointed Interim Department Chair after Dr. Kaper steps down on October 1; Dr. Kaper will fully retire from his faculty position on November 1.

As Chair and senior academic leader at the School of Medicine, Dr. Kaper helped shape programs, recruit talent, and support the school’s broader academic mission. He trained more than 60 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom now hold leadership positions in major academic institutions, extending his impact across generations of microbiologists, immunologists, physicians, and vaccine scientists. In 2019, Dr. Kaper was awarded the prestigious ASM DC White Award for Interdisciplinary Research and Mentoring in Microbiology. He was also named the first faculty member to hold the James and Carolyn Frenkil Distinguished Dean’s Professorship. In 2021, he was named a Distinguished University Professor by the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

As a Principal Investigator of a variety of R01s, P01, U19, T32, and U54 grants, Dr. Kaper received more than $60 million in total funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH has continuously funded Dr. Kaper’s research since 1982, including an NIH Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award.

He is internationally recognized for his work on the molecular pathogenesis of diarrheal disease pathogens. His research revealed how some harmful strains of E. coli bacteria cause illness. He made key discoveries about the molecular tools these bacteria use to attach to cells in the intestine, communicate with one another, and switch on genes that make them more capable of causing disease, shaping the direction of the field for decades. He also developed the first recombinant bacterial vaccine to be tested in humans, an attenuated Vibrio cholerae vaccine strain for the prevention of cholera.

“Dr. Kaper has been both a transformative scientific pioneer, whose discoveries have fundamentally shifted our understanding of global infectious diseases, and a tireless academic leader who mentored medical students, fellows, and junior faculty along their own successful career paths,” said UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, who is also Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean. “To maintain continuous NIH funding for over four decades, secure a prestigious MERIT award, and successfully translate basic science into the world's first licensed recombinant bacterial vaccine is a monumental achievement that has set a global standard. We are immensely grateful for his decades of service to our institution and will miss him here but wish him well in his retirement.”

Academic Leadership Unmatched

Dr. Kaper’s long relationship with the University of Maryland stretches back to his early academic training, when he earned first his BS and then PhD in microbiology at the College Park Campus in 1979. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington, Dr. Kaper returned to Maryland in 1981 to join the School of Medicine faculty in the Center for Vaccine Development, the beginning of his long and distinguished institutional career.

Dr. Kaper served in numerous leadership roles over the years advancing through the ranks from assistant professor, to earning tenure as an associate professor and eventually becoming an endowed professor. He served as Chief of the Bacterial Genetics Section in the Center for Vaccine Development and was named Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 2007. Under his leadership, the department achieved a ranking in the top 10 for NIH funding. Dr. Kaper also served as the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2014 to 2019, leading the school’s Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) re-accreditation process in 2018, and as Vice Dean for Academic Affairs from 2019 to 2024.

“Dr. Kaper’s contributions to the School of Medicine as an executive and academic leader have been nothing short of extraordinary,” said E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Former Dean and University Executive Vice President CARTI Endowed Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Director, Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI). “Whether leading the Department of Microbiology and Immunology to new heights of research prominence or spearheading our highly complex, institutional LCME re-accreditation process, Jim always brought a profound commitment to excellence and a spirit of collaborative leadership. The entire success of those initiatives stands as a testimony to his dedication, and I am profoundly grateful for his many years of exceptional service to our School of Medicine and University.”

A Research Career with Impact

Dr. Kaper’s long research career was distinguished by landmark discoveries in fundamental science and by translating that science into clinical impact. His internationally recognized work on diarrheal disease pathogens, such as Vibrio cholerae and pathogenic Escherichia coli, helped define how these pathogens cause disease. Dr. Kaper developed CVD 103-HgR, also known under its trade name Vaxchora, the first recombinant bacterial vaccine licensed for use in humans, using live attenuated Vibrio cholerae. The clinical trials that ultimately led to licensure of this vaccine by the FDA and comparable agencies in other countries, were conducted by his long-time collaborator, Dr. Myron Levine,  and other UMSOM faculty in the Center for Vaccine Development. His scientific work has resulted in more than 380 published academic journal articles and book chapters, multiple patents, and editorship of six books. . In1994, Dr. Kaper was elected as a Fellow of both the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“It has been an absolute privilege to spend my career alongside such brilliant colleagues and dedicated staff, to have had the opportunity to mentor so many exceptionally talented trainees and to recruit such enormously talented faculty, including Dr. Joao Pedra” ​​Dr. Kaper said. “I am incredibly proud of what we have built, and I have complete confidence that the department will continue to thrive under Dr. Pedra’s leadership.”

Dr. Joao Pedra to Serve as Interim Chair

Dr. Pedra has built a highly collaborative research program at UMSOM integrating microbiology, immunology, genetics, and systems biology to uncover fundamental principles of Lyme and rickettsial diseases across vertebrate and arthropod systems. His discoveries have appeared in many of the world's leading scientific journals, including Science, Cell, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Nature Microbiology, Nature Communications, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  His research program has been continuously supported through federal funding since 2007, including multiple R01 awards and a recently renewed P01 program project with colleagues.

Dr. Pedra brings leadership experience at the institutional, national, and international levels. At the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he serves as Director of Faculty Mentoring in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Chair of the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Admissions Committee, and Senior Member of the School of Medicine Research Council. Nationally, he has served as President of the American Society for Rickettsiology and an ad hoc member of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Board of Scientific Counselors to evaluate intramural research programs. He also chaired multiple NIH study sections.

As Interim Chair, Dr. Pedra will guide the department with a vision centered on scientific integration, innovation, and collaboration. He aims to foster an environment where fundamental science, systems-level investigation, and clinical research converge to address the next generation of questions in microbiology and immunology. By leveraging new scientific approaches and the breadth and depth of the University of Maryland biomedical ecosystem, he seeks to strengthen the bidirectional exchange between fundamental discovery and clinical investigation to improve human health.

"I am deeply honored to serve as Interim Chair of this outstanding department and to build upon the remarkable foundation established under Dr. James Kaper's leadership. I look forward to working with our faculty, trainees, and staff to foster bold scientific discovery, strengthen collaborations among our basic scientists, physician-scientists, and partners across the University of Maryland biomedical ecosystem, and help shape microbiology, immunology, and infectious disease research at the national and international level."

Dr. Pedra received his BS and MS in biology and chemistry in Brazil and earned his PhD at Purdue University. After a post-doctoral fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Yale University, Dr. Pedra served on the faculty of the University of California, before joining the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2013 as an Assistant Professor. He was named Associate Professor in 2016 and Professor in 2022. Dr. Pedra is equally recognized for his commitment to mentorship, having trained graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who now hold faculty and leadership positions at institutions, including The Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin, Washington State University, and the Pasteur Institute, as well as careers in biotechnology, government, and scientific publishing. In 2022, the School of Medicine Graduate Program in Life Sciences honored Dr. Pedra with the Dr. Mark E. Shirtliff PhD Student Mentor Award in recognition of his support of graduate students.