John D. Schatzle, Ph.D.
John D. Schatzle, Ph.D., Director of Scientific Affairs at VGTI Florida, oversees the institute’s scientific staff, directs and manages its core facilities and supervises the preparation and submission of grant applications and scientific articles to peer-reviewed journals. In addition, he coordinates the Institute’s research partnerships with other Florida bioscience research organizations, such Scripps Florida, Martin Memorial Hospital, Moffit Cancer Center, University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University.
Prior to joining VGTI Florida, Dr. Schatzle served as the chairman of the nationally-ranked Immunology Graduate Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. There, he managed and directed more than 50 faculty members and more than 40 graduate students. He spent 13 years running an independent research program at the medical center, studying the immune system with an emphasis on the biology of “natural killer cells,” naturally occurring cells that under certain conditions have the ability to kill cancer cells and other cells infected with viruses. More recently, he focused on studying lupus in mouse models and has identified a family of genes that result in autoimmunity in both humans and mice. He has had over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles appear in world-renowned publications such as Journal of Immunology, Blood Journal and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Schatzle earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and his doctorate in gene regulation and developmental biology from Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He completed his post-doctoral training in retrovirology and oncology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Prior to joining VGTI Florida, Dr. Schatzle served as the chairman of the nationally-ranked Immunology Graduate Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. There, he managed and directed more than 50 faculty members and more than 40 graduate students. He spent 13 years running an independent research program at the medical center, studying the immune system with an emphasis on the biology of “natural killer cells,” naturally occurring cells that under certain conditions have the ability to kill cancer cells and other cells infected with viruses. More recently, he focused on studying lupus in mouse models and has identified a family of genes that result in autoimmunity in both humans and mice. He has had over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles appear in world-renowned publications such as Journal of Immunology, Blood Journal and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Schatzle earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and his doctorate in gene regulation and developmental biology from Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He completed his post-doctoral training in retrovirology and oncology from the University of Texas at Austin.
