Elftman, Michael
Ph.D.
Director of Course Management
Biography
Michael Elftman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease working within the Foundational Sciences Discipline of the CMU College of Medicine. He received his BS in Microbiology from the Lyman Briggs School at Michigan State University and earned his PhD from The Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. His doctoral research focused on elucidating how neuroendocrine hormones produced during psychological stress affect dendritic cell function during immune responses to viral infection. Dr. Elftman was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan Medical School, where he studied the roles of dendritic cells in norovirus infection. From 2012-2016, Dr. Elftman served as Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, where he primarily taught immunology and infectious disease to dental students, dental hygiene students, and dental residents. In January of 2017, Dr. Elftman joined the faculty at CMU College of Medicine where he is committed to promoting excellence in medical education. In addition to teaching immunology and infectious disease in the organ systems courses, Dr. Elftman is a co-director of the Foundational Sciences of Medicine course for first-year medical students.
More about Michael Elftman
Publications & Presentations
Song X, Elftman M (2023). Professionalism in small group learning between face-to-face and virtual settings: a mixed-methods study International Journal of Medical Education.
Song X, Elftman MD (2020). Survey Development in Assessing Student Learning Outcomes: A Mixed-methods Approach Research & Practice in Assessment.
Kolawole AO, Rocha-Pereira J, Elftman MD, Neyts J, Wobus CE (2016). Inhibition of human norovirus by a viral polymerase inhibitor in the B cell culture system and in the mouse model. Antiviral Research.
Kolawole AO, Gonzalez-Hernandez MB, Turula H, Yu C, Elftman MD, Wobus CE (2015). Oral Norovirus Infection Is Blocked in Mice Lacking Peyer's Patches and Mature M Cells. Journal of Virology.
Nelson AM, Elftman MD, Pinto AK, Baldridge M, Hooper P, Kuczynski J, Petrosino JF, Young VB, Wobus CE (2013). Murine norovirus infection does not cause major disruptions in the murine intestinal microbiota. Microbiome.
Elftman MD, Gonzalez-Hernandez MB, Kamada N, Perkins C, Henderson KS, Núñez G, Wobus CE (2013). Multiple effects of dendritic cell depletion on murine norovirus infection. The Journal of General Virology.
Hunzeker JT, Elftman MD, Mellinger JC, Princiotta MF, Bonneau RH, Truckenmiller ME, Norbury CC (2011). A marked reduction in priming of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells mediated by stress-induced glucocorticoids involves multiple deficiencies in cross-presentation by dendritic cells. Journal of Immunology.
Elftman MD, Hunzeker JT, Mellinger JC, Bonneau RH, Norbury CC, Truckenmiller ME (2010). Stress-induced glucocorticoids at the earliest stages of herpes simplex virus-1 infection suppress subsequent antiviral immunity, implicating impaired dendritic cell function. Journal of Immunology.
Elftman MD, Norbury CC, Bonneau RH, Truckenmiller ME (2007). Corticosterone impairs dendritic cell maturation and function. Immunology.
Coussens PM, Verman N, Coussens MA, Elftman MD, McNulty AM (2004). Cytokine gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and tissues of cattle infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis: evidence for an inherent proinflammatory gene expression pattern. Infection and Immunity.
Coussens PM, Colvin CJ, Rosa GJ, Perez Laspiur J, Elftman MD (2003). Evidence for a novel gene expression program in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis-infected cattle. Infection and Immunity.
Suchyta SP, Sipkovsky S, Halgren RG, Kruska R, Elftman M, Weber-Nielsen M, Vandehaar MJ, Xiao L, Tempelman RJ, Coussens PM (2003). Bovine mammary gene expression profiling using a cDNA microarray enhanced for mammary-specific transcripts. Physiological Genomics.
Credentials, Certifications & Awards
Nominated 4 times for Excellence in Teaching in Foundational Sciences Award
Nominated for D and C Mridha Spirit of Teaching Award
Nominated for the George E. and Mona Kikano Leadership in Medical Education Award
Education
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University-College of Medicine, Hershey