Immunology Graduate Training Program
Essential for life in a world filled with potentially
deadly pathogens, the immune system must constantly adapt to attack microbes and
tumor cells. Yet, at the same time, the components of the immune system must be
highly specific to prevent activation by self-tissue; such self-activation
could cause autoimmune disease. This intricate and often precarious balance is
fundamental to immunity. The innate immune system is the first and immediate
line of defense against pathogens, and consists of complement proteins,
cytokines, natural killer cells, phagocytes and antimicrobial peptides. The
adaptive immune response develops secondarily, is mediated by
antigen-presenting cells and T and B lymphocytes, and has both cellular and humoral responses, the latter of which involve soluble
immunoglobulin mediators (antibodies).
The immune responses normally lead to elimination of pathogens, but under
some circumstances, they can augment disease. The Faculty members of the
Immunology Track seek to define and understand how the immune system
effectively prevents disease by microbial infection or oncogenic
transformation, while at the same time avoids damaging self-tissues. Many are
using this knowledge to develop novel and effective disease prevention and
therapeutic measures. The students enrolled in the Immunology Program will gain
a thorough understanding of these processes in humans as well as in comparative
animal models. The training includes
recommended course work and research rotations in the laboratories of track
investigators, in addition to an Immunology Journal Club and weekly Seminars in
Immunology hosted by the Center for Immunology. Student fellowship
opportunities are available through several NIH-sponsored training grants. More
information can be found in the UCI
Center for Immunology web page.
Recommended courses:
MMG215: Molecular Immunology
(usually taken first year)
MBB 221: Advanced Immunology (taken
second year or later)
MBB 227: Immunology Journal Club
MMG221: Immunopathogenic
Mechanisms of Disease (Offered every other year)
MMG222: Viral Pathogenesis (Offered
alternate years with MMG221)
Immunology Faculty
Track coordinator - Craig
Walsh, +
Alan
G. Barbour, + M.D., Professor of Microbiology
& Molecular Genetics and Infectious Diseases
Molecular pathogenesis and immunology of vector-borne
infections
Michael D. Cahalan,
+
Ph.D., Professor of Physiology & Biophysics
T cell activation: ion channels, calcium signaling, and
gene expression
David
Camerini, + Ph.D., Assistant Professor of
Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Molecular biology and pathogenesis of HIV-1, AIDS
Paolo
Casali, +
M.D., Donald L. Bren Professor of Molecular Biology, Biochemistry &
Medicine
Immunoglobulin gene expression and B cell differentiation
Michael
Demetriou, + M.D./Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Neurology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Molecular biology and glycobiology
of T cell dysfunction in autoimmune demyelinating disease
David
A. Fruman, + Ph.D., Assistant Professor of
Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Signal transduction in lymphocytes
Christopher
C.W. Hughes, + Ph.D., Assistant Professor of
Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Endothelial cells as initiators and targets of immune
responses
Anthony
A. James, + Ph.D., Professor of Molecular
Biology & Biochemistry
Malaria parasite development; genetic manipulation of
insect vectors
Thomas
E. Lane, +
Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Molecular/immunopathological
mechanisms of virus-induced demyelinating disease
Naomi Morrissette, + Ph.D., Assistant Professor of
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Microtubules in Toxoplasma and
related parasites; development of novel anti-parasitic therapies
Edward
L. Nelson, + M.D., Assistant Professor of
Medicine and Biological Chemistry
Tumor immunology, dendritic cell biology, and anti-tumor immunotherapeutics
Andre
Ouellette, + Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and
Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Mechanisms and regulation of innate immunity in mammalian
epithelia
W.
Edward Robinson, + M.D./Ph.D.,
Professor of Pathology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Pathogenesis of retrovirus infections; molecular
mechanisms of integration
Michael
E. Selsted, + M.D./Ph.D.,
Professor of Pathology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Molecular effectors of mammalian innate immunity
Ming
Tan, +
M.D., Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and
Infectious Diseases
Regulation of gene expression during the developmental
life cycle of Chlamydia
Andrea
J. Tenner, + Ph.D., Professor of Molecular
Biology & Biochemistry
Innate immunity; the roles of complement and phagocytes
in health and disease
Craig
Walsh, +
Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Apoptotic mechanisms in immune development and
homeostasis
Marian
L. Waterman, + Ph.D., Associate Professor of
Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
The role of LEF/TCF factors in WNT signaling and
lymphocyte differentiation