Clinical and Research Background
Dr. Cookson is Head of the Clinical Microbiology Division and Director of the Molecular and Next Gen Microbiology Laboratory. He is Professor in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and Microbiology. He uses the latest technologies to diagnose infectious diseases, understand how pathogens cause infection and understand the cellular basis of inflammation.
Dr. Cookson and his talented staff work with faculty collaborators in the Department of Laboratory Medicine to develop detection systems, including Clinical Next Generation Sequencing, for diagnosing bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections. The goal is to improve the diagnosis and medical management of patients suffering from infectious diseases. Website: http://depts.washington.edu/molmicdx/
Dr. Cookson was born in Utah and grew up near the ski resort that hosted the downhill event at the 2002 Olympics. He enjoys family, friends and the outdoors.
Board Certifications
American Board of Pathology, Clinical Pathology
Research Interests
Dr. Cookson’s research expertise is centered around three related areas:
- Diagnosing infectious diseases using sequencing-based approaches
- Unraveling genomic contributions to phenotypes and virulence attributes of bacterial pathogens
- Understanding the cell death pathway called pyroptosis and the cellular basis of inflammation evoked by infection, heart attack, stroke and cancer
Academic and Medical Appointments
Professor, Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Professor, Department of Microbiology
Education and Training
Senior Fellow, Department of Immunology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Seattle, WA, 1993-1997
Resident, Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, 1991-1994
MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, 1991
BS Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1983
Publications
Latest publications from PubMed