Meet our Faculty
Jennifer K. Bando
Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Our lab uses mouse genetics to investigate how immune cells and receptors regulate homeostasis of the gastrointestinal tract and other barrier tissues. We currently study innate lymphocyte biology, the spatial organization of immune cells within tissues, and the shaping of immunity during neonatal development.
Helen Blau (Baxter Labs)
Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Professor and Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Our focus is on the basic molecular mechanisms of stem cells and muscle and their application to aging, regenerative medicine, & stem cells, nuclear reprogramming, cell fate plasticity and disease. Our overall objective is to gain mechanistic understanding and translate our discoveries to improve quality of life. Our current primary focus is on the gerozyme 15-PGDH, a major molecular driver of aging, and how its effects can be reversed and tissues rejuvenated by a drug that inactivates it.
Jan Carette (Director of Graduate Studies)
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Our lab is interested in the host pathways that determine the susceptibility of humans to viral disease. Viruses constantly evolve to exploit host machineries for their benefit whilst disarming host restriction mechanisms. Discovery of host proteins critical for viral infection illuminates basic aspects of cellular biology, reveals intricate virus host relationships, and leads to potential targets for antiviral therapeutics.
Yueh-hsiu Chien
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Our main research focus is to define γδ T cell function so that we can better understand host immune defense. γδ T cells, together with B cells and αβ T cells, are the only cells that use somatic V, D, J gene rearrangement to generate diverse antigen receptors.
Mark Davis
Burt and Marion Avery Family Professor and Professor of of Microbiology & Immunology
We are interested in how T and B lymphocytes recognize specific antigens. This interest includes the structural and biochemical underpinnings of T cell receptor binding and signal transduction and the dynamics of molecular movement at the T cell/antigen-presenting cell interface.
Leonor García-Bayona
Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Our lab seeks to understand how horizontal gene transfer shapes interactions within the human intestinal microbiota and what the implications of this widespread phenomenon are for community properties relevant to human health.
Matthias Garten
Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
We aim to understand the ability of parasites to interface with their host-cell to a point at which we can exploit the mechanisms not only for finding cures against the disease the parasites cause but also to make parasite mechanisms a tool that we can use to engineer the host’s cells. By developing approaches that allow a quantitative understanding and manipulation of molecular transport our research transforms parasites from agents of disease to tools for health.
Peter Jackson (Baxter Labs)
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
We study signaling pathways with relevance to human disease. We use a combination of high-throughput screening and profiling as well as a wide range of biochemical, genetic, and molecular techniques. These approaches allow us to identify novel pathways and components, as well as elucidate their mechanism of action.
Holden Maecker
Professor (Research)
A major theme in our group is to define metrics of immune competence in various settings, including cancer immunotherapy, organ transplantation, allergy, and chronic viral infection. We use CyTOF mass cytometry, often in combination with other technologies, to broadly survey immune features at the cellular level, then examine links between features or groups of features and clinical outcome.
Denise Monack (Department Chair)
Martha Meier Weiland Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
The Monack Lab studies pathogen-microbiota interactions in the gut and has discovered that specific commensal bacteria-derived metabolites help defend against bacteria that cause food poisoning. In addition, the laboratory studies how immune cells recognize pathogenic bacteria that are residing within them.
Antonio Pagán
Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
We are interested in regulation of immunity and pathogenesis in tuberculosis (TB). TB is characterized by the formation of multicellular aggregates of immune cells called granulomas. We leverage genetics and imaging capabilities of genetically diverse fish models of TB, which capture key features of human TB granulomas, to address fundamental questions in mycobacterial pathogenesis and granuloma immunobiology.
Peter Sarnow
Burt and Marion Avery Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
The Sarnow Lab studies genetic effects on gene regulation and gene expression to identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms which define human traits. We are interested in virus-host interactions and the mechanisms of cellular and viral translation.
David Schneider
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
We study innate immunity and microbial pathogenesis. We have been studying models for a variety of bacterial infections including: Listeria, Mycobacteria, Salmonella and Streptococcus as well as some fungi, malaria and viruses. Our current focus is to determine how we recover from infections.
Robert Siegel
Professor (Teaching)
My work is primarily involved in medical education and curricular development, especially in the areas of infectious disease, virology, HIV, and molecular biology. Projects included electronic applications to science education, three dimensional model building, service learning, and the development of undergraduate research projects.
Justin Sonnenburg
Alex and Susie Algard Endowed Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
The goals of our lab are to elucidate the basic mechanisms that underlie dynamics within the gut microbiota and devise and implement strategies to prevent and treat disease in humans via the gut microbiota. We investigate the principles that govern gut microbial community function and interaction with the host using experimental systems ranging from gnotobiotic mice to humans.
Priscilla L. Yang
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
My research group is focused on innovation at the intersection of chemical biology and virology. We welcome trainees from chemistry, chemical engineering, virology, biochemistry, and structural biology to a research environment in which the only requirement is an earnest interest in the questions we are asking. Our current areas of focus are (1) developing first-in-class antivirals using the principle of chemically induced proximity to address chronic viral infections and the diseases they cause and (2) mechanistic investigation of the function of membranes in regulating viral processes.
