Beth Garvy

Beth Garvy, PhD is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Biomedical Education at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She holds appointments in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and the Office of Biomedical Education, and serves as an MD/PhD Program Mentor.

Dr. Garvy received her B.A. in Biology and Science Education from the University of South Florida (1981), M.A. in Exercise Physiology from The Ohio State University (1985), and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Exercise Science from Michigan State University (1991). She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Miami School of Medicine (1993) and served as a Research Associate at the Trudeau Institute (1996).

Her research focuses on pulmonary immunology, particularly the immune response to Pneumocystis carinii, an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes pneumonia in immunosuppressed individuals. She has investigated how different life forms of P. carinii interact with the lung immune system and how neonatal mice handle respiratory infections. Currently, she is involved in the RECOVER project, a large NHLBI-funded clinical trial examining long-COVID, with specific interest in monocyte/macrophage interactions with virus, platelets, and coagulation factors. Her educational efforts include funding the Alliance of Biomedical Educators (ABE) to support faculty writing education program grants.

Dr. Garvy's recent publications reflect a shift toward thrombosis research in viral infections, particularly HIV and long-COVID, while maintaining her expertise in pulmonary immunology and fungal pathogenesis. Her work demonstrates a progression from basic immunological studies of Pneumocystis to translational research on viral complications and thrombotic events.

Notably, Dr. Garvy indicates that her administrative position as Senior Associate Dean for Biomedical Education occupies most of her time, and she is no longer training students or post-docs in a laboratory setting. She has received funding for the Alliance of Biomedical Educators to support educational grant writing among faculty in the College of Medicine.

Her laboratory work historically focused on neonatal immunity, macrophage function, and host-pathogen interactions in the lung, with a particular emphasis on the differential immune responses to various life cycle stages of Pneumocystis organisms.