Julia Huffaker
Current Program Year: MS1
M.D./Ph.D. Program Students, School of Medicine
Biography
Research: Infectious disease vaccine development, vaccine clinical trials, implementation science, global public health
Clinical: Pediatric infectious disease, migrant health
Julia graduated from the University of California (UC), Berkeley in 2023 with a B.A. in Global Health and a minor in Child Development. As an undergraduate research assistant in Eva Harris’s lab at UC Berkeley, Julia investigated the humoral immune response to dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), and collaborated with the National Reference Laboratory in Nicaragua (CNDR) to train local scientists in new immunological methodologies for DENV serotyping. At the University of California, San Francisco, Julia worked as a research technician in Joel Ernst’s lab, where she conducted experiments to identify human T cell correlates of protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and performed peptide domain mapping of the M72/AS01E subunit tuberculosis vaccine candidate.
Outside of science, Julia enjoys crafting, making music, and picnicking with friends.
Education and training
B.A., 2023, University of California, Berkeley
Additional information
ORCID: 0009-0008-8939-1971
Publications
Selected publications
Wong MP, Meas MA, Adams C, Hernandez S, Green V, Montoya M, Hirsch BM, Horton M, Quach HL, Quach DL, Shao X, Fedrigo I, Zermeno A, Huffaker J, Montes R, Madden A, Cyrus S, McDowell D, Williamson P, Contestable P, Stone M, Coloma J, Busch MP, Barcellos LF, Harris E. Development and Implementation of Dried Blood Spot-Based COVID-19 Serological Assays for Epidemiologic Studies. Microbiol Spectr. 2022 Jun 29;10(3):e0247121. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.02471-21. Epub 2022 May 25. PMID: 35612315; PMCID: PMC9241704.
Cardona-Ospina JA, Roy V, Marcano-Jiménez DE, Bos S, Duarte E, Zambrana JV, Bal A, Dias AG Jr, Zhiteneva J, Huffaker J, Montenegro C, Kuan G, Ramos-Benitez MJ, Balmaseda A, Alter G, Harris E. IgA-driven neutrophil activation underlies post-Zika severe dengue disease in humans. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Mar 24:2025.02.11.25322002. doi: 10.1101/2025.02.11.25322002. PMID: 40162272; PMCID: PMC11952487.
Bos S, Zambrana JV, Duarte E, Graber AL, Huffaker J, Montenegro C, Premkumar L, Gordon A, Kuan G,
Balmaseda A, Harris E. Serotype-specific epidemiological patterns of inapparent versus symptomatic primary
dengue virus infections: a 17-year cohort study in Nicaragua. Lancet Infect Dis. 2025 Mar;25(3):346-356. doi:
10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00566-8. Epub 2024 Oct 25. PMID: 39489898; PMCID: PMC11864988.
Dias AG Jr, Duarte EM, Zambrana JV, Cardona-Ospina JA, Bos S, Roy V, Huffaker J, Kuan G, Balmaseda A, Alter
G, Harris E. Anti-dengue virus antibodies that elicit complement-mediated lysis of Zika virion correlate with
protection from severe dengue disease. Cell Rep. 2025 May 27;44(5):115613. doi:
10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115613. Epub 2025 May 5. PMID: 40333188.