Paul Fidel, Ph.D.

Paul Fidel, Ph.D.

Louisiana State University Health Science Center

Paul Fidel, Jr., Ph.D., received a B.S. in biology from Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa. in 1984 and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Oklahoma in 1988. Following a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Mich., Department of Immunology and Microbiology, he was appointed assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases in 1990. 

In 1995, Fidel went to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans as associate professor of microbiology, immunology and parasitology. After promotion to professor in 1999, he was named holder of the Carl Baldridge Endowed Chair in Oral and Craniofacial Biology and appointed the Director of the Center of Excellence in Oral and Craniofacial Biology in 2001. He has authored ~200 publications and has been continuously funded by extramural sources, primarily NIH, since 1994. He was inducted into the American Academy of Microbiology in 2018. 

Fidel’s research has impacted the fields of medical mycology and infectious disease. Pioneering studies using novel mouse models and clinical studies have defined unique paradigm-changing aspects of host-pathogen interactions in mucosal candidiasis. Most recently, he is conducting clinical trials evaluating live attenuated vaccines (MMR) to mitigate COVID-related sepsis.