People

Roles: Faculty, Potential Postdoc Mentor

Research Areas: Animal Hosts, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Viruses

The Parker lab uses the mammalian orthoreovirus model system and other human viruses to study virus-host interactions at the molecular and cellular level. Current projects are focused on the mechanisms viruses use to overcome translational repression and optimize translation of viral mRNAs, as well as pathogenesis studies to understand the transcriptional response of infected tissues to viral infection.

Roles: Faculty

Research Areas: Animal Hosts, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes, Veterinary/Clinical Research, Viruses

My laboratory studies viruses, with a particular focus on viruses that have jumped into new hosts to cause epidemics of disease. One model we study is canine parvovirus, which is a cat virus that transferred into dogs in the mid-1970s and subsequently caused a global pandemic of disease. Other viruses we study are the H3N8 and H3N2 canine influenza viruses, which transferred from horses or birds to dogs. Both caused an epidemic of canine disease for at least 15 years. Our work is defining the principles that underlie successful viral emergence, including risk factors associated with origins of new viruses in humans.

Roles: Faculty, Potential MFF (REU) Host, Potential Postdoc Mentor, Potential Undergraduate Mentor

Research Areas: Agriculture Research, Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Fungi, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes, Plant Hosts

We study the mechanisms underlying ecological interactions between fungi and bacteria.  Student projects will focus on current work to characterize the bacteria associated with mycorrhizal fungi in poorly studied desert habitats in California and Israel. Students will learn culture and microscopy techniques, and phylogenetic analysis.

Roles: Faculty, Potential MFF (REU) Host, Potential Undergraduate Mentor

Research Areas: Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes, Viruses

The Peters lab studies microbial evolution via mobile genetic elements. We are interested in how mobile elements evolve new functions within host-associated bacteria. Students in the lab will develop skills in bioinformatics, molecular genetics, and biochemistry. An example student project is using sequencing data to characterize insertion sites of a transposon across a bacterial genome.

Roles: Faculty, Potential Postdoc Mentor

Research Areas: Animal Hosts, Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes, Veterinary/Clinical Research, Viruses

Our lab seeks to understand and prevent spillover of zoonotic pathogens from wildlife to other species. We develop the science of pandemic prevention through collaborative, transdisciplinary science. We work in the field, the lab, and in silico, all with a commitment to translate the science we develop to the public.

Roles: Faculty, Potential MFF (REU) Host, Potential Postdoc Mentor, Potential Undergraduate Mentor

Research Areas: Microbiota and Microbiomes, Veterinary/Clinical Research

The Poole Lab studies how factors like substrate availability and host genes influence the dynamics of symbiotic oral and gut microbial communities. Students will conduct in vitro studies on saliva samples to characterize the response of microbes to a panel of carbohydrate substrates. They will use bioinformatics to connect microbial community changes to host genetics.

Roles: Faculty

Research Areas: Animal Hosts, Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes, Viruses

The Rudd lab is interested in how microbes alter immune development and how the adaptive immune system protects the host against acute and chronic pathogens.

Roles: Faculty

Research Areas: Animal Hosts, Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes, Veterinary/Clinical Research, Viruses

My program is focused on drug discovery and the pathogenesis of infectious human disease. We work closely with the Gates Foundation and the California Institute for Biomedical Research to run high-throughput drug screening on Mycobacterium tuberculosis within the context of the host. We also have human subjects research programs in Malawi and South Africa that explore TB and HIV infections supported by the NIH and the Gates Foundation.

Roles: Faculty, Potential Undergraduate Mentor

Research Areas: Animal Hosts, Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Veterinary/Clinical Research, Viruses

Dr. Schang uses small molecules with drug-like properties to probe the ways viruses cause infections. He is most interested in finding common features among the many viruses that cause disease in animals or humans, including how they enter cells and how they replicate and cause disease. He is also uncovering important information on how to use only a few drugs to fight infections with many different viruses, or even stop them before they start.

Roles: Faculty, Potential MFF (REU) Host, Potential Undergraduate Mentor

Research Areas: Agriculture Research, Animal Hosts, Bacteria, Disease Ecology and Evolution, Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology of Infection, Microbiota and Microbiomes

The Schmidt lab focuses on microbial community diversity, metabolic activity, and genome evolution in aquatic environments. Students will gain experience with microbial ecology and computational tools. As an example project, students can characterize the microbial communities in marine sediments associated with oyster beds to understand the impact of oyster farming. Climate change dramatically impacts freshwater ecosystems, which are becoming warmer, more acidic, and nutrient rich. The collective influence of the microbial inhabitants of these ecosystems, despite their tiny size, can have an immense impact on water quality. However, we lack fundamental knowledge on the ecology and evolution of these aquatic microbial systems. Research in the lab focuses on how aquatic environments and microhabitats influence microbial community diversity, composition, metabolic activity, and genome evolution. To address these topics, our lab uses a combination of field work, molecular methods, and computational tools.