Welcome
Leadership transition in molecular microbiology and immunology
Alejandro Aballay, Pharm.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of molecular microbiology and immunology (MMI), is departing OHSU Jan. 1 to become dean of the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. OHSU School of Medicine Dean David Jacoby, M.D., is appointing Susan Hayflick, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of medical and molecular genetics (MMG), interim chair.
Most Recently Recruited Faculty
The Molecular Microbiology & Immunology department is pleased to welcome Lauren Rodda, Ph.D. as an assistant professor as of September 2023. Dr. Rodda’s research focuses on how resident memory B cells interact with their tissue niche in the respiratory tract to provide rapid, cross-reactive protection against repeat infection with respiratory pathogens including RSV, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. In her prior work, Dr. Rodda delineated the diverse stromal populations that organize B cells functions in lymph nodes and defined the features of SARS-CoV-2-specific immune memory that distinguish infection-imprinted from vaccination-induced immunity. The Rodda Lab will employ antigen-specific flow cytometry, high-parameter microscopy and transcriptomics to study tissue resident memory B cells in both clinical samples and experimental models. Dr. Rodda’s long-term goal is to use these translational findings to inform transmission-reducing respiratory virus vaccines and reveal new therapeutic targets for lung pathologies such as asthma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Highlights
Ph.D. candidate Leah Huey, Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Sciences (PBMS), was awarded $60,000 by the Cure Blau Syndrome Foundation (CBSF) for her research on Blau Syndrome, a rare pediatric disease that robs those affected of their vision, mobility and in some cases, their life. CBSF raised money for Huey’s research, naming her the foundation’s inaugural Blau Scholar. Read more here
Dr. Bahareh Ajami has been selected as an inaugural awardee of the Tambourine ALS Breakthrough Research Fund. The goal for the ALS Breakthrough Research Fund is to accelerate innovative basic and discovery-focused ALS research by supporting scientific proposals that display creativity and tremendous potential for impact. Congratulations, Dr. Ajami!
Tyler Franklin, a postdoctoral scholar in Jonathan Pruneda’s lab, had his paper “Bacterial ligases reveal fundamental principles of polyubiquitin specificity“ published in Molecular Cell and chosen as the School of Medicine’s Paper of the Month.
Read More Here
MMI Faculty with Job Openings
Jeff Nolz, Associate Professor. My laboratory utilizes mouse models of viral, bacterial and parasitic infections to define the cellular...more
Jonathan Pruneda, Assistant Professor. Our lab is seeking graduate researchers to join our effort to characterize how pathogenic bacteria...more
Isabella Rauch, Assistant Professor. In the Rauch lab we are interested in understanding how epithelial barrier tissues recognize...more
Fikadu Tafesse, Assistant Professor. The Tafesse lab is interested in studying the roles of cellular lipids in bacterial and viral pathogenesis...more
Ruth Napier, Assistant Professor. Our lab is recruiting graduate students interested in understanding the cellular and molecular...more
Join us on Twitter
MMI Student Seminar Series
NIH Training Grant
'Interdisciplinary Training in Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology'
Summer internship
For grad or undergrad students with strong interest in research careers.