Learn more about the research being conducted at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology by clicking on the faculty lab. Microbiology and Immunology Labs Copy link Alonzo lab The lab studies the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and how it changes from a commensal to a virulent pathogen by metabolic adaptation and evasion of the host immune response Behnsen Lab We study bacteria and fungi that live in the gut and their role during infection with the human pathogen Salmonella typhimurium Bouvier Lab The lab’s goal is to determine the immunology, structural biology, and cell biology of the MHC class I processing and presentation pathway, which is vital to both adaptive and innate immunity He Lab We aim to understand how herpes simplex virus (HSV) switches between latent and lytic infections, as well as using HSV as an oncolytic agent for cancer immunotherapy Kenter Lab We seek to elucidate the chromatin architecture and regulatory motifs that mediate diverse antibody and T cell receptor repertoires in progenitor lymphocytes that are essential for robust adaptive immune responses. MacDuff Lab We focus on the inflammatory and innate immune response to pathogenic and commensal microbes, and the pathologies that arise when these responses are disrupted McLachlan Lab Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide health problem and we focus on understanding HBV transcription, biosynthesis and oncogenesis, with the ultimate goal of developing effective treatments Oberstein Lab Our lab uses cutting edge molecular and computational techniques to study how viruses manipulate cells, using the opportunistic human herpesvirus cytomegalovirus Palmer Lab We study how nutrients and stress affect colonization by the emerging multidrug resistant pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii Prabhakar Lab Our goal is to understand the role of dendritic cells in modulating immune responses, particularly on regulatory T cell induction and maintenance Richner Lab We are defining the signaling pathways, cytokine networks and cellular dynamics that lead to a robust adaptive immune response and immunologic memory following viral infection or vaccination Rong Lab We study how emerging or re-emerging viral pathogens like filoviruses, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2/SARS-CoV enter cells and are developing antiviral therapeutics based on our findings Ross Lab We use genetic approaches to study host-virus interactions and evolution, focusing on retroviruses and new world hemorrhagic fever arenavirus Sano Lab Our objective is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which gut bacteria alter our health status Shukla Lab We study how herpes simplex viruses (HSV) invade human host cells and are developing therapeutics that can be used to prevent this Zheng Lab We are characterizing how viral glycoproteins from HIV-1, influenza, Ebola and SARS-CoV2 mediate entry and infection, as well as the host proteins that counteract infection