The Maker Lab has focused the efforts of its research career on expanding the role of immunotherapy for gastrointestinal tumors and they have aligned their clinical practice to coincide with these research interests. Their research program has identified an immunostimulatory cytokine capable of activating and supporting the proliferation of antigen-specific T-cells to incite an anti-tumor immune response in colorectal liver metastases. This strategy is currently being investigated in combination with oncolytic viruses and immune checkpoint blockade to elicit complete tumor responses. Their lab also investigates novel drug combinations that stimulate immunogenic cell death and generate anti-tumor immune responses to treat GI tumor liver metastases. As part of these studies, they have developed multiple unique orthotopic animal models in which to study solid organ metastases that has led to multiple collaborations.

The Marson Lab aims to understand the genetic circuits that control human immune cell function in health and disease. They have begun to identify how genetic risk variants for autoimmune diseases disrupt immune cell circuits, and how pathogenic circuits may be targeted with novel therapeutic. They have developed new tools for efficient CRISPR genome engineering in primary human T cells and now they are pursuing a comprehensive strategy to test how coding and non-coding genetic variation control essential programs in the human immune system. Genome engineered human T cells hold great potential for the next generation of cell-based therapies for cancer, autoimmunity and infectious diseases.

The Matloubian Lab's interests broadly lie in mechanisms of immune mediated diseases and approaches for a better understanding of the molecular bases of such processes. Our goal is to provide therapeutic treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases through a better understanding of the involved pathways.

The McManus lab studies fundamental processes relating to the regulation of gene expression. We take high-throughput approaches, analyzing hundreds of thousands to millions of experiments at once, using unique and complex libraries coupled to deep sequencing. Our systems span from cell culture to in vivo models, focusing on a broad array of disease relevant tissues. From cancer to diabetes, we develop novel technologies to help us better understand how genes are regulated and how they function in cells. We aim to uncover the dark matter of the genome, to help unravel the beautiful genomic complexity of pathways and how genes interact in development and disease.

The Mellon Lab's resarch is focused on indentifying novel nuclear factors that regulate the transcription of the genes encoding some steroid synthesizing enzymes in the gonads and in the developing nervous system, and studies their mechanisms of action and regulation in normal and diseased gonadal and neuronal tissues. Her laboratory has also recently discovered that neurosteroids, steroids produced specifically in the brain, can directly influence nerve cell growth, development, neuroinflammation, and behavior. Working in conjunction with the Wolkowitz Lab, we are working to share data with other researchers examining the role of the immune system in cross-diagnostic pathology, and to add neuropsychiatric rating scales to other projects assessing immune function in diverse patients at UCSF.

The  Molofsky Lab’s main goal is to define the role of glia and their immune roles  in brain development. Our lab uses a combination of transcriptomic analysis  and mouse genetics to discover novel roles for glia in synapse remodeling in  the developing mouse brain. We are particularly interested in the  communication astrocytes and microglia, two important cell types that respond  to stress and immune activation. We recently identified the astrocyte-encoded  cytokine Interleukin-33 as a key regulator of microglial synapse engulfment  and demonstrated that it is required for normal synapse numbers and circuit  function. Our lab continues to investigate brain-immune cross talk in synapse  homeostasis during development, after injury, and in the context of brain plasticity  and learning. These studies will form the basis for a new understanding of  how the immune system impacts neurodevelopmental diseases including autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

The Molofsky Lab's goals are to understand the function and regulation of tissue resident lymphocytes in settings of tissue development, remodeling, infection, and pathology while providing a strong and supportive environment for their research trainees. By understanding the physiologic roles of tissue-resident immune cells and their regulation, they hope to define novel pathways that can be targeted in diverse human disease, including obesity/type 2 diabetes, allergic pathologies (asthma, allergy, atopic dermatitis), and neuropsychiatric disease. They are focused on type-2 immune-associated lymphocytes, including group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) and subsets of regulatory T (Treg) cells, and the ‘niche’ signals involved in their regulation.  These recently appreciated tissue resident cells are early organizers of tissue remodeling and first responders during tissue damage and infection, positioning them as key mediators of tissue health and disease.

The Moslehi Lab is a basic and translational research laboratory focused on signal transduction in the myocardium and vasculature. Our clinical and research interests fall under the burgeoning field of cardio-oncology. In the past our group initially defined new clinical syndromes of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-associated myocarditis and other ICI-associated cardiovascular toxicities, including pericarditis and vasculitis. Our interest in "cardio-immunology" has recently expanded to other inflammatory cardiomyopathies, including giant cell myocarditis, acute cellular rejection (ACR) following cardiac transplantation, and other forms of myocarditis.

The Nayak Lab studies human gut microbiota and its role in the treatment of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Specifically, we are interested in the reciprocal interactions between human gut microbes and the drugs used to treat autoimmune disease. Drugs commonly used to modulate the immune system in rheumatology have off target effects on microbes despite the fact that they were originally developed to target host cells. These off-target effects on microbes may have downstream effects on the host immune system, since it now well-established that microbiota can influence host immunity. These microbes harbor microbial enzymes to metabolize these drugs, thereby altering pharmacokinetics and influencing the ability of the drug to modulate host immunity. Thus, we seek to uncover under-appreciated roles for the microbiome in the treatment of autoimmune disease.

The Nedelcu Lab's primary focus is cellular therapies and transfusion medicine. Our current project in clinical transfusion medicine is to elucidate the mechanism of allergic transfusion reactions.

The Nishimura Lab's research spans basic, translational and clinical research themes. Their clinical/translational projects focus on the use of biospecimens and correlation of morphometry with gene expression and genetic variation in disease-susceptibility. Basic research themes focus-on the regulation of cell-extracellular matrix interactions by integrins, the role of host-pathogen interactions in innate and adaptive immunity in the evolution of fibroinflammatory diseases, the activation and function of TGF-beta in epithelial-mesenchymal-immune cell interactions and in tumor immunobiology. Current projects include the role of TGF-beta and inflammation in fibroinflammatory diseases, genetic variation in regulation of TGF-beta activation in COPD, the role of paracrine TGF-beta activation by mesenchymal cells in the regulation of innate and adaptive immunity, the role of autophagy in lung injury and repair, the role of integrin structure in TGF-P activation and the role of TGF-beta in tumor immunity.

The Norris Lab's research interests focus on how the human immune system responds to viral infections and transfusion. Our early efforts centered on defining how HIV-specific CD4+ T cells contribute to control of viral infection. A second area of interest has been defining the earliest events of viral infections through study of subjects with HIV, West Nile virus, and hepatitis viruses. Some of our more recent projects include understanding how blood transfusion affects the immune system and modulates immune responses in transfusion recipients, including the role extracellular vesicles play in immune modulation.