The Turnbaugh Lab is an interdisciplinary group of microbiome researchers committed to understanding host-associated microbes, reducing these complex microbial ecologies to molecular mechanism, and applying these lessons to improve the practice of medicine. We are currently focused on two major areas: pharmacology and nutrition. We use a variety of inter-disciplinary approaches ranging from the molecular (biochemistry, bacterial genetics, structural biology) to the organismal (gnotobiotic mice, conventional animals, and human cohorts) to the ecological (synthetic microbial communities and metagenomic sequencing).

The Bruno Lab use synthetic biology and high-throughput functional genetic screens to understand antigen presentation and T-cell recognition in the context of cancer and other diseases.

The Betancur Lab���������s research goals are centered around the assembly of an immune evasion Gene Regulatory Network (GRN). This virtual map of regulatory networks will clarify all upstream CD47 activators and novel genes that in parallel with CD47 and in response to inflammation, activate the immune evasion program in breast cancer or damaged cells in other diseases. To approach this, we employ whole genome sequencing and genome-wide association studies, low cell number or single cell ChIP-Seq to generate high-throughput data on active enhancers or super-enhancers controlling the activation of pro-inflammatory genes or immune suppressive genes, part of the immune evasion program, in healthy and cancer cells. In the future, we plan to use the immune evasion GRN model to predict how the immune evasion program is erroneously activated by cancer therapies known to promote inflammation (e.g., radiation therapy). This information will be crucial to develop tools to deactivate the immune evasioncer cells or other diseased cells from arriving to a state where they can escape immunosurveillance. Moreover, our findings will be useful to point at specific therapeutic targets that eventually can be combined with radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer.

Pailin (���������Pie-lin���������) ���������Pai��������� Chiaranunt completed her PhD in Immunology from the University of Toronto. She is currently a Schmidt Science Fellow in the labs of Drs. Anna Molofsky and Ari Molofsky. Pailin���������s current research focuses on how respiratory inflammation can lead to long-lasting changes in brain function and behavior, as commonly observed in post-acute infection syndromes. Outside the lab, Pailin is passionate about science outreach and advocacy. She spearheaded multiple initiatives to promote DEI in STEM and to enhance graduate training programs during her time at the University of Toronto. As an ImmunoX Postdoc Ambassado

Dr. He's research focuses on gene regulatory networks in human tissues, leveraging single-cell and spatial assays combined with innovative computational methods. He has significantly contributed to the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project through RNA-centric approaches, and to the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) with a focus on developing limbs and lungs. In the lung atlas initiatives, he has characterized diverse leukocyte populations, identified human B-1 cells in the developing lung for the first time, and elucidated the roles of myeloid cells in lung development. His research group will continue investigating immune system functions in both development and disease. Dr. He's research group will continue exploring the functions of the immune system in development and disease. His interdisciplinary research group is dedicated to developing computational methods and profiling transcriptomic and chromatin changes with spatial contexts. They aim to construct ultra-high resolution cell atlases of healthy and altered tissues and organoids, to dissect the intricate relationships between genes, cells and tissues. The computational frameworks they are building are well-suited to address key challenges faced by the ImmunoX community.

The Wolkowitz Lab's broad focus is the identification of moderators and mediators of stress effects on psychiatric and comorbid physical health, with a goal of identifying novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Our������focus has been on the mechanisms of hormonal, inflammation, and stress-related mental illnesses and on peripheral-brain interactions that affect both somatic and mental health. We������have mainly applied this line of investigation to major depression and PTSD, with a focus on accelerated biological aging. We are interested in uncovering mechanisms by which depression and other serious mental illnesses become associated with a surfeit of diseases of aging in affected individuals. Our group has specific knowledge of biomarkers that are relevant to these neuropsychiatric and other illnesses, such as inflammation, steroids and neurosteroids, cellular aging (telomere length and telomerase activity; epigenetic aging), oxidative stress, neurotrophic factors and metabolomtabolomics and mitochondrial functioning. Our lab is beginning to additionally explore the gut-microbiome-brain axis in major depression. We have just concluded a 10-year NIMH study,�"Cell Aging in Major Depression,"��and are fitting our data into mechanistic models that may clarify the mediators and mechanisms of illness in the context of stress and psychiatric illness.

The Aguilar lab focuses on understanding how natural killer (NK) cells protect us from pathogens and cancer. He uses human NK cells and mouse models of disease to discover ways to generate NK cells with enhanced responsiveness to pathogenic cells.

The Lu lab focuses on immunotherapy for brain cancer. The overall research goal in our lab is to identify molecular mechanisms of immunosuppression and evasion in brain cancer and develop novel immunotherapeutic for these diseases.�

The Sarwal Lab's research is based on computational approaches for analyzing public and lab developed genomic, proteomic, single cell sequencing, cyTOF, metabolomic and microbiome data and its applications to diagnosing renal and transplant injury as well as an emphasis on drug repositioning and new drug design. We focus on the application of novel, high throughput technologies to harness the entire complement of genes, proteins, metabolites and antibodies, to generate new hypotheses for unraveling the underlying mechanisms of complex human diseases. Much of the work focuses on human organ transplantation , and the research efforts of the lab have resulted in a new understanding of the role of B cells, microRNAs, non-HLA antibodies and proteins in acute graft rejection; the prediction of chronic rejection and recurrent FSGS and new onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT), and the identification of new drugs and drug targets for organ transplant recipients. The goal is to improve the quality of care and life of the patient and to assist the physician in improved and targeted management of the patient, such that there is reduced recipient morbidity and improved quality of life.

In the Cho Lab, we are focused on understanding the rules of engagement between cancer and the immune system. We aim to leverage fundamental, mechanistic discoveries to advance the treatment of cancer patients. Despite recent breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapeutics, there remains a significant knowledge gap particularly with respect to how interactions between cancer cells and immune cells determine treatment response vs. resistance. Our work using novel mouse and human models combined with high parameter immune profiling reveal critical molecular and cellular circuits responsible for resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors and radiation therapy, including a surprising role for T cells in exacerbating immune-suppressive inflammation engaging immune and malignant cells in the tumor microenvironment. We aim to leverage expertise in molecular engineering and high parameter, single-cell profiling to understand key interactions at the tumor-immune interface to improve and innovate immune-based cancer therapy. The major aims of our research program are:1. To leverage high-parameter imaging and single cell proteomics to interrogate multicellular interactions in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors2. To interrogate consequences of stereotactic radiation on inflammatory T cell-tumor interactions3. To develop novel molecular and genetic tools to dissect cell-cell and cell-ligand interactions in the tumor microenvironment

The Roan Lab studies the molecular interactions between RNA viruses and T cells, in the context of viral immunity, persistence, and pathogenesis. We study the mechanisms by which intracellular and extracellular factors in the tissue microenvironment that can affect HIV transmission through mucosal sites. We use a variety of multi-omics single-cell analysis approaches, including CyTOF and single-cell sequencing, paired with bioinformatics analyses, to characterize the mechanisms by which HIV persists in people living with HIV despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART), and to discover ways to achieve ART-free HIV control. Multi-omics tools are also being used to characterize T cell immunity in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, as well as immunopathogenesis in the context of acute COVID-19 and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19. Another research interest of the lab is to understand the cross-talk between endometrial lymphocytes, decidual cells, and soluble factors in seminal plasma in the context of reproductive health, and how these interactions can become dysregulated in diseases associated with female infertility or sub-fertility.�

Graduate Trainee Ambassador

Dr.������Hermiston directs the Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy Program at UCSF Benioff Children���������s Hospital, San Francisco. Her lab is focused������on������translational and clinical studies in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and histocytic disorders (Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis a