Contact Information

American Society For Microbiology

http://www.asm.org/index.php/component/content/article?id=7872
Washington DC 20036

Biography

Clifford W. Houston, Ph.D. is the Associate Vice President for Educational Outreach at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, and holder of the Herman Barnett Distinguished Professorship in Microbiology and Immunology. Houston received his B.S. in Microbiology and Chemistry as and his M.S. degree in Biology from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK.  He subsequently obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, OK.  Prior to accepting a faculty position at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), he was named a James W. McLaughlin Postdoctoral Fellow.   As an administrator, he has played an active role in the Management Development Program in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University in 1994.  While at UTMB, Houston served a two-year appointment as Deputy Associate Administrator for Education in the Office of Education at NASA headquarters where he provided day-to-day guidance for three primary divisions: elementary and secondary education, higher education and informal education.

Houston’s honors include receipt of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2000 as well as being selected to the International Who's Who Professional 1996 Program.  He was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 1997 and selected for a Burroughs-Wellcome/ASM Visiting Professorship in 1999. Houston also served as the first African American to serve as President of the American Society for Microbiology and was selected to serve on the prestigious National Advisory General Medical Sciences whose members perform the second level of peer review for research and research training grant applications assigned to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Houston serves as the chair of the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Steering & Planning Committee and the American Society for Microbiology Education Board. Houston's research at UTMB has focused on the role that bacterial toxins play in the pathogenesis of disease.  Presently, the long-term objective of Houston’s research is to determine the role of Aeromonas hydrophila virulence factors in the pathogenesis of disease in man. He has published numerous articles and abstracts and addressed prestigious audiences throughout the world, in addition to establishing mathematical and scientific education programs across the country.

[REF: http://www.asm.org/index.php/component/content/article?id=7872 ]