Dr. Lisa M. Hodge received her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, where her research focused on the mucosal immune response during respiratory immunization and infection.  During her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, she focused on novel immune therapies for the treatment and prevention of cancer. 

Currently, Dr. Hodge is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology and holds a joint appointment with the Osteopathic Research Center at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas.  In addition, Dr. Hodge is the Basic Science Research Chair for the National Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, where she serves to advance the evidence base of osteopathic manipulative medicine.  Dr. Hodge is also a member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and the Institute for Cancer Research at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. She also serves on the national Louisa Burns Osteopathic Research Committee, which promotes research on osteopathic principles and practice and programs to train researchers for the profession.

The long range research goal of her research laboratory is to evaluate the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative treatments (OMT) at modulating the immune response during infection, inflammatory diseases and cancer. Clinical studies support the application of OMT for the treatment of infectious disease, but experimental support for their use is sparse and the mechanisms involved are not well understood.  Understanding the mechanisms by which OMT enhances the lymphatic and immune systems will provide scientific support for the clinical use of OMT.