Magnus Hook
Regents & Distinguished Professor, Neva & Wesley West Chair, Director

Magnus Höök:(b.1946) earned a B.S. in biochemistry and Ph.D. in medical chemistry at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He was an associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences before moving to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1980. There he rose to hold professorial positions in biochemistry, microbiology, and cell biology and was an associate professor of ophthamology. In 1992 Dr. Höök joined IBT as the director of the Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University. Dr. Höök is an adjunct professor in the Departments of Cell Biology at Baylor College of Medicine and also in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He is a faculty member of University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

The research in our laboratory is focused on determining the molecular pathogenesis of infections and inflammatory diseases. We are interested in two key areas in the pathogenic process; microbial adherence to host tissue and microbial evasion of host defense systems. We seek to identify the molecules involved in these processes, characterize the interactions in submolecular detail using detailed biochemical methods, and articulate molecular hypotheses describing the disease process. These hypotheses are then evaluated in model systems and compared to the clinical findings in human disease. Ultimately, we seek to translate our research findings into new or improved strategies to prevent and treat infectious diseases.