Daniel G. Colley, PhD
Daniel G. Colley, PhD received his undergraduate degree from Centre College of Kentucky in 1964, and his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology in 1968, from Tulane University. He then pursued 2 years of post-doctoral training at Yale University with Dr. Byron H. Waksman. Colley then worked for 8 months in Recife, Brazil, and began studies on the immunology of schistosomiasis with Brazilian colleagues. At Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee he established a career in the immunology of parasitic diseases (mainly schistosomiasis and Chagas disease) and rose from Assistant to full Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and of Medicine. In 1992 Colley become Chief of the Parasitic Diseases Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases (DPD) at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 1993 he was named Director of DPD, where he managed a staff of approximately 240 persons and a highly diverse portfolio of domestic and international public health research programs related to parasitic diseases, encompassing such diverse programs as reference diagnostics, malaria vaccine development, and eradication of dracunculiasis. Its studies are focused on public health needs in the area of tropical medicine and parasitology. In December, 2001 Colley moved to the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia as Director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and Professor of Microbiology. He now directs a cross-college, multi-disciplinary center of 19 investigators who pursue diverse research, largely on parasitic infections. His own research remains focused on the immunology of schistosomiasis. Colley has received several awards and honors in his field, such as the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal (American Society of Parasitologists, 1981) and the Bailey K. Ashford Medal (American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1989). In 2005 the President of Brazil presented Colley with Brazil's highest scientific honor "Order of Scientific Merit, Class "Gra-Cruz." Colley has served as President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (1992-93), and is or has been on numerous editorial boards and many advisory committees and grant review panels for governments, multinationals and foundations. Colley has delivered more than 165 invited extramural seminar, symposium, workshop, or conference presentations, organized a wide variety of scientific meetings and symposia and published more than 235 scientific articles, book chapters and books. He has been a mentor for 16 successful Ph.D. candidates, and an advisor of 28 postdoctoral and sabbatical fellows. He has worked extensively in collaborative studies on the immunology of human parasitic infections in Brazil, the West Indies, Egypt and Kenya. Most of his research has been on the immunoregulatory checks and balances of the immune responses during these chronic diseases. He currently has 1 graduate student and 1 postdoctoral fellow, and his current research is focused on immunoregulatory mechanisms and immune responses responsible for resistance against schistosomiasis in people upon multiple treatments and reinfections. He has recently taken on directorship of a global consortium for operational research for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.