Ryan Doster, M.D., Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He received his B.A. in Biology from Hanover College (Hanover, Ind.) and his M.D. from Indiana University. Following a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Indiana University, he completed a clinical fellowship in infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During his clinical fellowship, Doster enrolled in the Physician Scientist Doctoral Program where he completed a Ph.D. in Microbe-Host Interactions.
 
His research interests include clinical infectious diseases, microbial pathogenesis with a focus on host-bacterial interactions and the influence of host metabolic state on bacterial pathogenesis. Doster’s research program focuses on mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens cause infections during pregnancy that lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth and neonatal sepsis. His lab uses Group B Streptococcus as a model organism to understand how bacteria colonize epithelial borders within the female reproductive tract and alter host innate immune responses to cause ascending infection. He is interested in understanding how changes in host metabolic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, might alter host-pathogen interactions and promote infectious outcomes.