Bacteria can cause cancer?!

Microbes influence our bodies in complex ways.

Microbiology, Infection & Immunity

To understand diverse microorganisms, their pathogenesis and resultant immune responses, research in MCB probes microbial physiology, the composition and function of microbiomes, innate and adaptive immunity, and translational strategies to predict infection epidemics, design better therapies and reengineer host and microbe for improved health and industry.

Model Curricula

Autumn

MCB 532
Human Pathogenic Viruses

Micro 540
Graudate Virology

IMMUN 537
Immunological Methods

winter

PABIO 552
Cell Biology of Human Pathogens and Disease

CONJ 544
Protein Structure, Modification and Regulation

spring

MICROM 553
Molecular interactions of bacteria with their hosts

CONJ 549
Microbial Population Biology

Dr. Harmit Malik, an HHMI investigator, explores how organisms create and resolve conflict

When small things matter

Seattle MCB comprises Benaroya Research Institute, which is a leader in autoimmune diseases, the Center for Infectious Disease Research, which is focused on HIV/AIDS, tubercuolosis, malaria and emerging infectious diseases, and the Institute for Systems Biology, which explores environmental microbes and the host-pathogen interface. The UW Department of Microbiology recently celebrated its centennial in 2015 and UW ranks #3 in Microbiology graduate studies and #6 in Immunology graduate studies according to US News and World Report. With the Gates Foundation nearby, Seattle MCB is a world-leading hub for infectious diseases research.

Faculty Area Directors: Michael Lagunoff, Andrew Oberst

Student Area Directors: Kristen Mittelsteadt, Nicholas Maurice

Area Of interest Faculty

Featured Research

Area Directors

Faculty Area Directors: Michael Lagunoff, Andrew Oberst

Student Area Directors: Meghan Garrett, Laura Jackson, Nick Maurice

Model Curricula PDF provided by Area Directors

Lab Openings

Dudley Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Yeast, Genetics, Genomics, Technology Development, Biofilm formation, Antifungal drugs

Greninger Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

clinical virology, host-virus interactions, viral evolution

Aitchison Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

systems cell biology, host-pathogen interactions, infectious diseases

Paredez Lab:
Permanent Position

Giardia, parasite, actin, rac, Rho GTPase, signaling, evolutionary cell biology, cysts, trafficking, cytokinesis, microscopy, biochemistry

Geballe Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Winter

virus

Steinbrenner Lab:
Spring, Winter

plant cell surface receptors, immunity, herbivores, pathogens

Bornfeldt Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Atherosclerosis, diabetes, glucose, immune cells, lipids

Dandekar Lab:
Spring, Summer, Winter

quorum sensing, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, sociomicrobiology, cooperation

Avgousti Lab:
Spring, Summer, Winter, Permanent Position

Chromatin, adenovirus, herpesvirus, histones

Fredricks Lab:
Spring

MIcrobiota

Sherman Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Winter, Permanent Position

Tb Pathogenesis, Systems Biology

Veesler Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Cryo-electron microscopy, viruses, viral fusion proteins, bacterial secretion systems, ion channels,vaccine design, structure-based drug design

Matsen Lab:
Spring, Winter

adaptive immune receptors, phylogenetics, evolution

Sokurenko Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Fang Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, macrophages, phagocyte, nitric oxide, reactive oxygen species, pathogenesis, bacteria, infection

Gerner Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Innate immunity, adaptive immunity, vaccine development, cancer, dendritic cells, T cells, microscopy, imaging, lymph nodes

Gu Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Winter, Permanent Position

Protein-protein interaction, Protein Barcoding, In Situ Sequencing

Hamerman Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

innate immunity, macrophages, inflammation, dendritic cells, myeloid development, autoimmunity

Headley Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Intravital Microscopy, Lung Metastasis, Immune System, Myeloid, , Monocytes, Macrophages, Dendritic Cells

Malik Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Winter, Permanent Position

centromeres, heterochromatin, Drosophila, viruses, budding yeast, fission yeast, mitochondria, speciation, retroelements, histone variants, Tetrahymena, bacteria, phage, protein, evolution, cytoskeleton, multigene families, histones

Bloom Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Computational Biology

Smith Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

adenovirus, HPV, rotavirus, defensins, enteroid, Paneth cells, Crohn's disease

Kollman Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Cryo-EM, structural biology, cytoskeleton, metabolism, X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy

Hyde Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

alphavirus, RNA structure, innate immunity

Lund Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Winter, Permanent Position

Virus infection, HSV-2, HIV-1, West Nile virus, Influenza, Regulatory T cell, Tissue-resident memory T cell, PrEP

von Moltke Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

helminth, parasite, type 2, allergy, tuft cell, intestine, mucosal immunology, innate lymphoid cell, ILC2, innate immunology

Mullins Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Winter, Permanent Position

hiv, siv, fiv, felv, HHV-8, KSHV, pathogenesis, vaccine, reservoirs, computational biology

Ray Lab:
Autumn, Spring, Summer, Permanent Position

autoimmunity, genetic variation, T cells, enhancer biology

Zimring Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Transfusion, Red Blood Cells, Platelets, Alloimmunization, Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions, Blood Storage, Bone Marrow Transplantation

Barry Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Immunotherapy, Innate Immunity, Cancer Immunology

Lee Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Virus, membrane fusion, cryo-EM, glycoproteins, dynamics, structure, HIV, influenza, membranes, fusion proteins, vaccines, antibodies, immunology, transmission, mass spectrometry

Koch Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Immunity, Microbiota, Maternal-Offspring Interactions

Kueh Lab:
Spring, Summer, Winter, Permanent Position

Immunology, stem cell biology, quantitative biology, systems biology, synthetic biology, live-cell imaging,

Urdahl Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

Lagunoff Lab:
All Quarters, Permanent Position

virus, Kaposi's Sarcoma, Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, KSHV, viral oncogenesis, cancer, herpesvirus, virology, signal transduction, metabolism, metabolomics, transcriptomics, endothelial cell, viral immunology, KS,