Jorge Cervantes, M.D., Ph.D., obtained his medical degree from Cayetano Heredia University in Peru. He received research training in tropical medicine in Japan and conducted dengue surveillance in the Amazon, before pursuing a doctorate in biomedical sciences in Kagoshima University, Faculty of Medicine in Japan.
Cervantes has worked on immunology and infectious diseases, focusing on the innate immune aspects of phagocytes as a postdoctoral fellow in Japan and later in UConn Health and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. His interests include antimicrobial peptides and host-pathogen interactions in the field of tuberculosis, leprosy and Lyme disease. Cervantes is an expert on the human lung microbiome in tuberculosis and how mucosa-associated microbiota can confer risk for the development of precancerous lesions in the colon. Cervantes also works on inflammatory processes occurring in microglia triggered by bacterial-derived peptides in the context of multiple sclerosis. Cervantes is passionate about translating his findings and applying his knowledge to public health problems like leprosy, tuberculosis, tick-borne diseases and infectious diseases education.
Cervantes is an advocate for scientific integration into medical education. Cervantes believes that the assimilation of basic science and understanding of new technologies is paramount to how medical professionals can base clinical reasoning. When learners understand how basic science knowledge informs clinical practice, their confidence in foundational scientific underpinnings transcends assumptions and reliance on learners’ intuitively practicing and advancing medicine on evidence-based foundations of science. The more that future health professionals can achieve excellence in clinical decision making, the better the future of the health care systems will be to promote patients’ health and quality of life.
Cervantes serves on the editorial board for renowned journals, such as Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Public Health, Clinical °®¶¹´«Ã½ Reviews and PLoS ONE. He is also a reviewer for a long list of scientific and medical education journals. Cervantes is also the Editor in Chief for Clinical Infection and Immunity.
Cervantes served for 2 consecutive terms as the President for the American Society for °®¶¹´«Ã½ Rio Grande Branch and is a Council on Microbial Sciences (COMS) representative and a member of the ASM Future Leaders Mentoring Fellowship (FLMF) program. Cervantes is the Southern Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Medical Research (AFMR). Cervantes is the ASTMH Scientific Program Committee, Pneumonia, Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Chair, as well as member of the ASTMH Travel Award Committee.