Pete Zimmerman received his PhD from the Case Western Reserve University Department of Biology in 1992. His PhD thesis investigated the association between strains of the parasitic nematode Onchocerca volvulus with blinding or less severe pathogenesis. Dr. Zimmerman received a National Research Council Associateship award to continue his post-doctoral education at the National Institutes of Health with Thomas Nutman in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases. Dr. Zimmerman's studies on immunological and genetic factors influencing susceptibility to infectious disease at the NIH culminated in identification of human genetic polymorphism conferring resistance to HIV-1 infection and delayed progression to AIDS. Dr. Zimmerman joined the CWRU faculty in 1997.