Researcher holding a petri dish
Keck School of Medicine of USC

Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics

Explore our Graduate Programs

Transforming the Body’s Defenses
into Life-Saving Therapies

The Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics is the central hub for immunology and immune therapeutics across USC and CHLA. We advance basic and translational research in infectious disease, autoimmunity, and cancer immunology. Faculty develop vaccines, gene therapies, and immunotherapies for a broad range of conditions, including HIV, hepatitis B and C, HPV-associated cancers, and autoimmune disease.

Our core facilities include a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory, which allows us to study serious airborne pathogens such as tuberculosis, SARS, and pandemic influenza.

Our Master’s enrollment continues to grow each year, and our department offers robust training opportunities for the next generation of scientists through an MS in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, postdoctoral fellowships, and the interdisciplinary PIBBS PhD program.

Research

Embracing collaboration and using advanced instrumentation, our scientists create new knowledge about the basic mechanisms of disease and immunity. We cultivate real-world impact by adapting what we learn into new health solutions such as vaccines, gene therapies and immunotherapies.

Learn about our Research
pipet filling a test tube

Message from the Chair

The immune system influences every part of our health—from infections and autoimmunity to cancer and cognitive decline. By understanding how the immune system works, we can create powerful new therapies to treat the most challenging diseases. 

Steven J. Bensinger, VMD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics
headshot of Chair of the Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics, Steve Besinger

Education & Training

Explore the opportunities in Department of Immunology-and-Immune-Therapeutics with our comprehensive offerings. Launch your career through our MS program, where you’ll gain expert mentorship and hands-on biomedical research experience. For early-career researchers, our Postdoctoral Fellowships provide a platform to engage in ambitious studies alongside leading investigators. Join the interdisciplinary PIBBS program, collaborating closely with faculty on impactful research projects. Shape the future of science with us.

Learn about our Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics programs

MS in Molecular Microbiology & Immunology

Launch your next chapter, whether it’s going on to doctoral studies or a job in industry. You’ll be equipped for success with expert mentorship and hands-on experience in biomedical research.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

In the Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics, early-career researchers connect with principal investigators leading ambitious basic and translational studies.

Programs in Biomedical and Biological Science

Our faculty take part in the interdisciplinary PIBBS admissions program, which has eight different PhD options. Students work closely with renowned faculty on research with the potential for major impact.

Research Tools

Our investigations are enriched by a suite of dedicated core facilities. Studies into dangerous airborne viruses and bacteria take place in an advanced biosafety level 3 lab with capabilities found nowhere else in L.A. County.

See our Labs & Facilities
Molecular Imaging Center_112

Support Us

New cures and strategies for prevention start with insights into the basic processes underlying disease. Your giving can have that type of power when you support our department. Become a partner in a venture that fuels biomedical knowledge and opens the doors to better health for all.

See our Giving Opportunities