Thomas F Byrd, MD

Biography

Dr. Byrd received his M.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1981. He then did his internal medicine residency at the University of Florida where he stayed an additional year as Chief Medical Resident. Following this Dr. Byrd did a clinical/research infectious diseases fellowship at UCLA and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Marcus Horwitz.

Personal Statement

I have been involved in research involving intracellular pathogens since I was a junior faculty member. My work has included seminal publications involving the pathogenesis of iron in Legionella pneumophila infection. I took my interest in iron and bacterial pathogenesis and moved into the area of mycobacterial pathogenesis. I have been interested in the role that cording plays in Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis and in speaking in an investigator during a job interview discovered that Mycobacterium abscessus displays a cording phenotype. This then began my research efforts into M. abscessus pathogenesis. I published my first papers in this area long before it has become the emerging infection that it is now recognized to be. I am currently involved in research, education, and administration with part time clinical duties. As Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity, I am involved in research projects that utilize our ABSL-3 facility. As Executive Chair of the UNM HSC IRB I am well versed in the area of bioethics in human subjects research, and I am a resource for information in this area. In the clinical sphere, I staff an infectious disease consult clinic and I care for patients with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary infections in a bimonthly clinic that I staff with a pulmonary medicine subspecialist, Dr. Kitty Busby, where I also conduct clinical research.

Education

Medical School
1981
Vanderbilt University

Fellowship
Infectious Disease
1988
University of Southern California/LAC+USC Medical Center

Fellowship
Research
1990
University of Southern California/LAC+USC Medical Center

Residency
Internal Medicine
1985
University of Florida

Certification
American Board of Internal Medicine
1984-09-12

Certification
American Board of Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease
1988-11-01

Gender

Male