Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor and Associate Director for the Division of Research at CT Children’s
Email: hawley@uchc.edu
Dr. Kelly L. Hawley is the Associate Director of the Division of Research at Connecticut Children’s and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Immunology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She earned her PhD in Animal Biotechnologies and Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she developed a lasting interest in microbial pathogenesis and host–pathogen interactions. Her research centers on the immunobiology and pathogenesis of Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis. Her laboratory works to characterize outer membrane proteins as potential vaccine candidates and to investigate the mechanisms that shape host immune responses to infection. She is particularly focused on developing novel immunologic assays and animal models to dissect the bacterium’s pathogenic features and identify correlates of protection that can inform syphilis vaccine development. In addition to collaborating on an NIH-funded syphilis vaccine study and clinical biorepository, Dr. Hawley serves as Principal Investigator on two vaccine development projects supported by Open Philanthropy and the Gates Foundation.
Dr. Hawley’s research is part of the Spirochete Research Labs at UConn Health.
