Defining the human immune response to inhaled pathogenic fungi through gene expression studies
Arjun Rustagi, Professor
UC San Francisco
Applications for Spring 2026 are closed for this project.
I am a scientist and infectious diseases physician with a broad interest in human respiratory infections, particularly the factors that drive different outcomes. My laboratory studies the immune response to viruses and fungi with an emphasis on human lung model systems.
Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, TB, and the pathogenic fungus Coccidioides (Valley Fever) have taught us that the same pathogen can cause very different outcomes in people. I am interested in how the interaction between respiratory pathogens and immune cells in the lung drives disease outcome. To study this, we use human immune cells, human lung tissue, and pathogens grown and titered in the lab to model infection and study how immune cells are activated and how the pathogen changes.
Please do not contact directly; please use the URAP portal if interested in this position.
Role: The student in this project will use human cell culture, microbial culture, and gene expression studies to study human innate immune activation in response to infection.
We are a young laboratory, so the student will have significant opportunities to learn directly from the professor (who spends 80% of his time in the laboratory and/or nearby office) and other trainees in the laboratory.
Qualifications: Research experience in a biology or chemistry laboratory is required. Experience in data analysis using R is desired. Experience with cell culture and/or flow cytometry is desired. Please include in the application (1) Your overall career goals and current plan (2) Schedule of committed hours to perform research in the lab (please exclude the commute time). The laboratory is in the UCSF Department of Medicine based at the San Francisco VA (4150 Clement Street, San Francisco). (3) Prior research/laboratory experience. (4) (optional) experience that demonstrates attention to detail
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: 4150 Clement Street San Francisco, CA