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Research Labs

Steven Baker Lab

The Baker Lab has two major areas of investigation. The first is understanding lifespan evolution among species. We are developing computational and biochemical tools to uncover the mechanisms leading to the vast differences in lifespan observed in nature.

Our second major area of research involves work on Cerebral Creatine Deficiency Syndromes (CCDSs). We are seeking treatment strategies for these disorders.

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Maria Bettini Lab

The focus of our research is to understand how autoimmune T cells evade tolerogenic mechanisms and why regulatory T cells fail in autoimmunity.

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Matt Bettini Lab

The foundation of my research centers around neonatal tolerance to organ specific antigens and microbiota.

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Allison Carey Lab

In the Carey Lab, we study pathogenic mycobacteria, including the globally significant pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our scientific goal is to understand how bacterial strain diversity impacts clinically relevant phenotypes, such as antibiotic resistance and vaccine escape. 

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Julio Delgado Lab

The focus of our research is to understand the functional role of the HLA system in the setting of transplantation and susceptibility to disease.

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Kimberley Evason Lab

The overarching goal of the Evason laboratory is to investigate mechanisms involved in liver tumorigenesis in order to develop improved therapies to treat this deadly cancer. A major subset of HCC is defined by mutations in the CTNNB1 gene encoding β-catenin, an integral component of the Wnt signaling pathway [3]. These β-catenin-activated HCC represent 20-40% of human HCC, and our current research focuses primarily on these tumors.

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Brian Evavold Lab

The Evavold Lab is focused on studying how T cells interact with their antigens.

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Keke Fairfax Lab

IL-4 and immuno-modulation are hallmarks of parasitic infections, my laboratory broadly focuses on using the helminth parasite Schistosoma mansoni as a tool to understand both, the consequences of IL-4 induced immuno-modulation, and the complex interplay between B, T, and stromal cells necessary to develop an optimal T and B cell memory response.

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Mark Fisher Lab

We are focused on using microbial genetics to dissect the complex interaction between Yersinia pestis, the bacterial cause of plague, and its arthropod vectors.

Allie Grossmann Lab

Our laboratory focuses on understanding mechanisms of cancer progression and developing clinical interventions. Our goals are to 1) uncover novel mechanisms of tumorigenesis and metastasis, 2) identify biomarkers that prognosticate disease progression or predict treatment response and 3) collaborate with industry to develop new therapies for the prevention and treatment of cancer progression.

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Hans Haecker Lab

The major focus of our lab is on innate immunity and inflammation, with projects ranging from molecular mechanisms of signal transduction to translational aspects of drug development. We explore how innate immune cells recognize and respond to pathogens, how genetic mutations in innate immunity contribute to inflammatory and auto-immune diseases, and how obtained information can be used to develop novel therapeutic strategies.

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Gianna Hammer Lab

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Scott Hale Lab

My laboratory studies T cells and their role in the generation of immunological memory in response to viral infection and immunization.

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Tim Hanley Lab

In the Hanley lab, we use a multidisciplinary approach to study the interactions between HIV-1 and myeloid cells, including macrophages and dendritic cells. 

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Peter Jensen Lab

The Jensen laboratory is focused on antigen processing and presentation and the role of classical and nonclassical histocompatibility (MHC) molecules in regulating immune responses.

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Jarrod Johnson Lab

We study how our cells detect and respond to viral threats. We integrate cell biology, virology, immunology, biochemistry, and functional genomics approaches to tackle questions such as: How are viruses recognized during infection? What cell factors are required for innate immune responses? And how do our cells “tune” immune responses once they are engaged? We hope to learn how viruses like HIV evade detection and uncover new ways to harness our body’s natural defense systems.

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Beatrice Knudsen Lab

Our multidisciplinary research group at the University of Utah utilizes digital and computational pathology to explore and quantify tissue architecture.

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Lamb Lab

We work on malaria, a disease caused by infection with parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium parasites invade the body’s red blood cells and can cause a harmful systemic infection.

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Wan-Lin Lo Lab

The Lo Lab deciphers how T cell fate is sealed by an efficient and reliable signal propagation network that begins when a T cell receptor encounters a ligand and discriminates between foreign and self-antigens. We investigate how T cells respond to environmental stimuli to shape their differentiation and stemness, calibrate their sensitivity to activation signals, and establish the extent and specificity of their responses.

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Patrice Mimche Lab

The mission of the Mimche laboratory research program is to perform innovative and cutting-edge research aimed at deciphering the biological processes that promote pathological tissue inflammation and fibrosis. Human fibrotic diseases are a major socioeconomic burden on modern societies and account for up to 45% of deaths in the developed world. My group is currently focused on elucidating the role of the axonal guidance cue Eph/Ephrin system in tissue inflammation and fibrogenesis across various organs including the liver, skin, lung, heart, and kidney. To achieve this goal, we utilize cutting edge molecular biology techniques, genetic manipulation of mice, animal modeling of disease, and translational studies in humans. Our ultimate goal is to develop therapy targeting this cell signaling system for the treatment of fibrotic diseases.

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Ryan O'Connell Lab

Our laboratory is exploring the function of non-coding RNAs (including microRNAs) during inflammatory responses. Furthermore, we are investigating why disruptions in non-coding RNA expression or function is linked to human diseases such as autoimmunity and cancer.

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Aaron Petrey Lab

Our laboratory focuses on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a severe and chronic lifelong condition leading to relentless destruction of the gastrointestinal tract.

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Vicente Planelles Lab

Pathogenesis by the human immunodeficiency virus: how HIV induces alterations in the cell cycle of the host cells, leading to programmed cell death.

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Melissa Reeves Lab

The Reeves Lab has established a powerful novel system to model tumor heterogeneity in vivo, in which we can establish and modulate heterogeneous tumors made up of multiple, fluorescently-labeled tumor populations. Using the fluorescent labels, we can track each population within the tumor to study how heterogeneity shapes the spatial organization of immune cells and immune activity within a tumor. We are also investigating the impact of neoantigen heterogeneity—which arises from mutation heterogeneity—on the anti-tumor T cell response, and tumor evolution following immunotherapy.

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June Round Lab

We work on understanding how commensal bacteria shape host immune system development and responses.

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The Roy Lab

We are interested in understanding B cell fate decision to plasma cell and memory B cell in physiology and how pathogens perturb these fates.

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Eric Snyder Lab

Our overall goal is to determine how the loss of cellular identity and acquisition of alternative differentiation states contributes to cancer progression and alters therapeutic response.

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Dean Tantin Lab

Our research focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which transcriptional regulators control immune responses and stem cell states.

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Diane Ward Lab

My laboratory studies iron metabolism specifically compartmentalization and utilization and membrane trafficking and the regulation of endosome/lysosome size.

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Janis Weis Lab

My laboratory studies the pathogenesis of Lyme disease; an infection caused by the tick borne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.

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Matt Williams Lab

The research of my lab is focused on the mechanisms driving the development of long-lived immunological memory following bacterial or viral infection.

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Arabella Young Lab

The Young lab studies the connectivity between the immune response in different immune-mediated diseases. In particular, we are investigating the interaction between anti-tumor immunity and autoimmunity in response to cancer immunotherapies.

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