Wendy A. Keitel

Wendy A. Keitel, M.D., is a Professor and Director of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She holds the Kyle and Josephine Morrow Chair in Molecular Virology and Microbiology. Her work focuses on vaccine development and evaluation, particularly for respiratory infections and emerging pathogens like influenza, pertussis, and Norovirus. She leads research on live attenuated vaccines, adjuvant strategies, and maternal immunization to protect infants.

Education:

• B.A., Duke University, 1973
• M.D., Duke University School of Medicine, 1977
• Advanced Training: Duke University and Baylor College of Medicine Affiliate Hospitals (1977–1981)

Research Interests: Dr. Keitel’s group bridges preclinical and clinical vaccine research, including phase I-IV trials. Current projects include optimizing influenza vaccines (e.g., 2009 H1N1, pandemic strains H5/H7/H9), smallpox countermeasures, and cytomegalovirus/rotavirus vaccines. She pioneered a human Norovirus challenge model to evaluate vaccine efficacy.

Labs/Teams: Her work is anchored at the Vaccine Research Center, collaborating across Baylor’s clinical and translational research networks.