Infectious Diseases

Research

Doctors collaborate to advance the science of infectious diseases diagnosis and treatment.

Research focused on advancing patient care

Note: This content was created prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and does not demonstrate proper pandemic protocols. Please follow all recommended Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for masking and social distancing.

Mayo Clinic's clinician-scientists and researchers study the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In response to the pandemic, Mayo Clinic established a research task force to study the origin, causes and transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as well as potential treatments and vaccines. In 2020 this work resulted in 275 active clinical trials on COVID-19 and 737 COVID-19 publications, including in top journals such as The Lancet.

This rapid and effective response to the pandemic is built on the clinic's strong commitment to infectious diseases research. For nearly 70 years our clinician-scientists and researchers have been at the forefront of advances in diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. The clinic initiated its subspecialty training of doctors (the fellowship program) in 1961. Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota each offer fellowship training in infectious diseases. These programs include specialty training on infectious diseases related to transplant, critical care, orthopedics and other surgical infections, cardiovascular medicine, and travel-related and tropical medicine.

Mayo's infectious diseases clinicians collaborate with scientists throughout the world. Among their many collaborators are Arizona State University, the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, the University of Notre Dame, the Belize Ministry of Health, and international colleagues who study the Zika (ZEE'-kuh) virus and other vector-borne diseases.

Areas of particular research interest include:

The use of convalescent plasma therapy to treat people who are ill with COVID-19
Remote monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms
COVID-19 biobank
SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma trial
Long-term symptoms of COVID-19
Prosthetic joint infection
Vertebral osteomyelitis
Health care associated infections
Cytomegalovirus infection
Vaccine research
Infection following organ transplantation
Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis)
Cardiovascular infections
Clostridium infections and fecal microbiota transplantation
HIV and hepatitis

Clinical trials

Mayo Clinic researchers are involved in studies to evaluate potential treatments (clinical trials) for many infectious diseases. You may have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials. Learn more about infectious diseases clinical trials at Mayo Clinic.

At Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota, researchers in the Division of Public Health, Infectious Diseases and Occupational Medicine are committed to ongoing research to improve the health and well-being of people and populations. Talk with your doctor about whether any of the clinic's many clinical trials might be right for you.