Dr. Tuomanen is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician and Emeritus ALSAC Endowed Chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.

She received her B.Sc., M.D., C.M. degrees from McGill University, Montreal, Canada and served an internship and residency at Montreal Children’s Hospital and an infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Virginia. She turned to research on Streptococcus pneumoniae pathogenesis as the Bristol Fellow of Infectious Diseases and the Parker B. Francis Pulmonary Research Fellow at Rockefeller University in New York City. She was subsequently promoted to Assistant and Associate Professor and Head of the Molecular Infectious Diseases Laboratory at Rockefeller University. In 1997, she joined the faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases, attending physician, and director, Children’s Infection Defense Center. She is currently full member in the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions.

In recognition of her impact on pediatric medical science, Dr. Tuomanen is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology. She received the Maxwell Finland Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the E. Mead Johnson Award for Outstanding Research in Pediatrics from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the inaugural Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Distinguished Research Award. She has authored over 350 articles and book chapters and has been the editor of several textbooks and scientific journals.

Dr. Tuomanen has devoted over 40 years to understanding how bacteria, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae, invade the human host, establish infection, and spread to invasive disease. She and her research group have identified the molecular mechanisms by which pathogens access the brain and have developed vaccine antigens that protect against colonization, pneumonia, and meningitis. Her research efforts have elucidated important host-bacterial interactions common amongst invasive respiratory pathogens that serve as the basis for strategies to prevent serious bacterial infections. In addition, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to educating and mentoring the research efforts of younger colleagues as the founder of the annual St. Jude-PIDS ID Research Conference, initiating the St. Jude-PIDS Transplant ID Conference, and creating the St Jude-PIDS Research Fellowship Award.

Outside of her work at St Jude, Dr. Tuomanen is a competitive ballroom dancer and an ardent Boston sports fan.