L. David Sibley, PhD

L. David Sibley, PhD, professor of molecular microbiology, is an internationally recognized leader in the field of cellular microbiology. His research in molecular parasitology focuses on Toxoplasma gondii, a widespread pathogen associated with HIV and other forms of immunosuppression.

His work has defined several major paradigms in molecular parasitology, including elucidating how Toxoplasma invades cells, providing a model for related parasites, including the malaria parasite. He also has performed groundbreaking work defining the molecular mechanisms of Toxoplasma virulence. Sibley has published nearly 200 papers in the most preeminent journals focused on cell biology, genetics, immunology and microbiology.

Sibley serves on advisory panels of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, the Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology in Glasgow and the Structural Genomics Consortium and on several editorial boards; he recently chaired the National Institutes of Health Study Section on Eukaryotic Pathogens. He has been the recipient of many honors, including the Burroughs-Wellcome Award in Molecular Parasitology, and was appointed a fellow of the American Society for Microbiology.

Sibley also shares his talents as an exemplary member of the School of Medicine community. He is an active lecturer and coursemaster, serves on the Microbiology Steering Committee and on the admissions committees for the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences and Medical Scientist Training Program. He has mentored a dozen PhD students in his lab, twice receiving mentoring awards from the Graduate Student Senate, as well as nearly twice that number of postdoctoral fellows.

He received his undergraduate degree in 1978 from Oberlin College and his doctoral degree from Louisiana State University in 1985. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the National Hansen’s Disease Center and Stanford University School of Medicine before joining the Washington University faculty in 1991.