Our translational human microbiome research program focuses on gastrointestinal and airway microbiome interactions with host immunity that promote or prevent development/maintenance of chronic inflammatory disease. Taking a "populations to molecules" approach we leverage the microbiome to determine the origins of childhood allergy and asthma and the early life molecular and cellular drivers of immune dysfunction that lead to childhood disease development.
Dr. Abuabara studies the impact of inflammatory skin disease on overall health and the role of the skin in the aging process. Her interdisciplinary scientific approach combines genomic, physiological, environmental, and psychosocial variables to understand patient outcomes over time. Her goal is to develop truly personalized interventions that address both the pathophysiological and sociocultural aspects of disease to improve the lives of patients.
The Ahituv lab is focused on identifying gene regulatory elements and linking nucleotide variation within them to various phenotypes including morphological differences between species, drug response and human disease. It develops and uses massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) that allow for high-throughput functional characterization of gene regulatory elements.
Dr. Narges Alipanah-Lechner is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at UCSF. She received her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree and master's degree in clinical and epidemiological research from UCSF. Dr. Alipanah-Lechner's research interest is to apply complementary systems biology approaches within precision medicine to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients with syndromes of critical illness such as sepsis and ARDS.
Dr. Chloe E. Atreya specializes in gastrointestinal cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, at the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center. She also co-directs the Integrative Onolcogy Program and Research Hub. Her research focuses on the interplay of tumor genetics and response to therapies for colorectal cancer, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and quality of life by personalizing treatment.
Joel Babdor, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Spitzer lab. He uses high-throughput, high-dimensional technologies and computational methods to study the interactions between the human immune system and the microbiome at the systems level. He focuses on human research in healthy populations and in pathological settings where the immune system plays an important role (cancer, autoimmunity and organ transplantation).
Tanushree Banerjee, PhD is an Associate Professional Researcher in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. She also serves as the lead biostatistician for the CDC-funded Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) surveillance system and other federal agency funded CKD studies in the United States. Dr. Banerjee's research focuses on statistical methods for epidemiologic studies, survival analysis, nutrition-related studies, behavioral outcomes and health measures, and quantitative methods.
Sergio E. Baranzini earned his degree in clinical biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1992. He graduated from the same institution in 1997 obtaining a PhD with honors in human molecular genetics. The subject of his PhD thesis was the characterization of genetic mutations leading to Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. Dr. Baranzini then moved to the University of California at San Francisco to specialize in the analysis of complex hereditary diseases, in particular multiple sclerosis. During his postdoctoral stay in UCSF Dr.
