Our Team
Colleen B. Jonsson, PhD
Director, iSHPS
Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Virology
Director, Regional Biocontainment Laboratory
cjonsson@uthsc.edu
As director, Dr. Jonsson focuses on synergizing infectious disease research among
an interdisciplinary group of faculty across UTHSC. iSHPS is centered on the model
of convergence research and aims to build new relationships across departments and
colleges focused on pathogen research critical to the development of new treatments
and diagnostics tools. "The convergence approach requires collaboration between research
groups, but even more so, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to problem-solving
and the merging of technologies, processes, and devices."
Na Seung Yeon
Program Administrator, iSHPS
Grants and Contracts Coordinator, RBL, MIB and Basic Sciences Administration
nyeon@uthsc.edu
Amber Smith, PhD
Core Faculty Member, iSHPS
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Peds Infectious Diseases
amber.smith@uthsc.edu
Dr. Smith is a quantitative biologist trained in both applied mathematics and experimental
microbiology and immunology. She received her PhD from the mathematical biology program
at the University of Utah under the mentorship fo Dr. Fred Adler. She did her postdoctoral
training in biophysics and theoretical biology at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
with Dr. Alan Perelson and in infectious diseases at St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital with Dr. Jon McCullers.