I am a pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist with a research focus on pulmonary diseases affecting persons with HIV with a global perspective. I am a clinical-translational researcher with clinical cohorts in San Francisco, CA and in Kampala, Uganda.

Dr. Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski is an Emeritus Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics and a senior faculty member in the Institute of Global Health Science and with the California Preterm Birth Initiative in the UCSF School of Medicine. She was previously Chief of the Division of Lifecourse Epidemiolog, a Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and of Global Health Sciences, and was Director of Precision Health and Discovery with the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative before moving to NYU where she currently serves as a Professor.

I am an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Director of the Microbiology Teaching Laboratory in the School of Medicine. I also have a joint appointment in the Department of Cell and Tissue Biology in the School of Dentistry. Prior to arriving at UCSF, I was a Research Associate in bacterial pathogenesis at Stanford University, Visiting Professor at Swarthmore College, and Program Director of Sciences and Technology and Instructor at Berkeley Extension.

Our group is interested in understanding how sensory systems enable us to perceive our world. In one aspect of our research, we exploit the power of natural products to elucidate molecular mechanisms of touch and pain sensation. For example, we have asked how capsaicin, the main pungent ingredient in "hot" chili peppers, elicits burning pain, and how menthol, the cooling agent in mint leaves, evokes an icy cool sensation.