Meet Our Researchers: Joseph Dillard

Name: Joe Dillard

Hometown: Cedartown, GA

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Education

1987, B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
1994, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
1994-98, Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL

Areas of Study

Bacterial Pathogenesis

What inspired you to select your field of study?

I always loved the natural world and science related to living creatures. I was an avid reader of Natural History magazine, in particular I loved the essays of Stephen Jay Gould and gained an interest in evolution and genetics. In graduate school, I found a lab where I could learn to be a geneticist and work in an area relevant to human disease. Since then I have always worked on naturally-transformable bacterial pathogens.

What is one piece of advice you would give to students?

This is one of the best times of your life. Enjoy each moment.

When you’re not in the lab, how do you spend your time?

Hiking with my son, fishing with my wife, cooking, and gardening.

If you didn’t become a scientist, what career would you have pursued?

English professor

If you had a time machine, would go back in time or into the future?

Future