Denise Ellen Kirschner is an American mathematical biologist and immunologist whose research topics include

granuloma A granuloma is an aggregation of macrophages (along with other cells) that forms in response to chronic inflammation. This occurs when the immune system attempts to isolate foreign substances that it is otherwise unable to eliminate. Such sub ...

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, and the mechanisms by which disease pathogens interact with and persist in their hosts. She is a professor of microbiology and immunology at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, co-editor-in-chief of the ''

Journal of Theoretical Biology The ''Journal of Theoretical Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical biology, as well as mathematical, computational, and statistical aspects of biology. Some research areas covered by the journal include cell ...

'', and former president of the

Society for Mathematical Biology The Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB) is an international association co-founded in 1972 in the United States by George Karreman, Herbert Daniel Landahl and (initially chaired) by Anthony Bartholomay for the furtherance of joint scientific ac ...

Education and career

Kirschner graduated from

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

in 1985, and completed her Ph.D. there in 1991. Her dissertation, ''Mathematical Modeling of the AIDS Virus in Epidemiology and Immunology'', was jointly supervised by Jerome Goldstein and James (Mac) Hyman. After postdoctoral research at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, she was an assistant professor at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

from 1994 to 1997 before moving to the University of Michigan. She was president of the Society for Mathematical Biology from 2017 to 2019. She is a speaker of the IBS Biomedical Mathematics Group.

Recognition

Kirschner was listed as one of the inaugural Fellows of the Society for Mathematical Biology, in the class of 2017. She was named a

SIAM Fellow The SIAM Fellowship is an award and fellowship that recognizes outstanding members of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The goal of the program is to: *honor SIAM members who are recognized by their peers as distinguishe ...

in the 2021 class of fellows, "for contributions to modeling pathogen-host interactions and host immune response in infectious diseases and training in mathematical biology/immunology". In 2025, Kirschner was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Microbiology American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

References

External links

Kirschner Lab
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirschner, Denise Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 21st-century American biologists American women biologists American theoretical biologists Tulane University alumni Texas A&M University faculty University of Michigan faculty Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology