Professor Izzo is an infectious diseases immunologist with more than 30 years of experience studying how the immune system responds to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in the lungs, as well as how tuberculosis vaccines perform in pre‑clinical animal models. His research focuses on identifying the key immune mechanisms needed for effective protection. For over two decades, his work on vaccine‑induced immunity and the use of animal models in vaccine development has been continuously funded by the US National Institutes of Health, and his laboratory has served as a pre‑clinical testing site for new TB vaccines.
Professor Izzo is currently investigating how different adjuvant formulations can strengthen subunit vaccines against tuberculosis. These studies compare adjuvants that activate a wide range of pathogen‑recognition receptors across multiple models to determine which candidates are most suitable for future clinical trials. Another major research focus in his lab is mycobacterial immunopathogenesis, particularly how co‑infections influence immunity to M. tuberculosis infection and vaccination.
