Research

MMI research contributes to the development of therapies and vaccines against pathogens and immune diseases.

Our Programs

Omid Akbari, PhD
Omid Akbari’s research is to: characterize and define acquired and innate immune response at mucosal surfaces such as lung and gut; investigate the mechanisms underlying the regulation of those responses; explore the mechanisms by which those responses contribute to inflammatory, allergic diseases and asthma; and determine means by which those responses can be specifically manipulated
(http://uscmmi.com/omidakbarilab/)

Paula Cannon, PhD
Paula Cannon’s research is focused on gene therapy, hematopoietic stem cells and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Expertise in the laboratory lies in gene editing and humanized mice.
(http://uscmmi.com/paulacannonlab/)

Si-Yi Chen, MD, PhD
Si-Yi Chen’s main research interests include identifying key negative regulators controlling antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) and mechanistically investigating the roles of these regulators in control of innate and adaptive immunity; creating innovative technologies and approaches for the development of immunotherapies against cancer; and developing novel approaches for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection.

Lucio Comai, PhD
Lucio Comai’s research program investigates the molecular basis of human aging. The current focus is on the identification of the cellular processes responsible for the development of Werner syndrome (WS) and Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome (HGPS), two genetic diseases of accelerated aging.
(http://uscmmi.com/luciocomailab/)

Hyungjin Eoh, DVM, PhD
Hyungjin Eoh’s research interest in discovery of novel anti-tuberculosis drugs using metabolomics.
(http://uscmmi.com/hyungjineohlab/)

I-Chueh Huang, MD, PhD
I-Chueh Huang’s research objective is to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of immune control of viral infections and to use this knowledge to develop novel therapies.
(http://uscmmi.com/ichuehhuanglab/)

W. Martin Kast, PhD
Martin Kast’s research is focused on developing new and effective therapies for cervical cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma. These cancers express unique tumor-specific or tumor-associated antigens to which the lab directs T cell immune responses via DNA, RNA, protein or peptide-based vaccines or by retroviral mediated transfer of T cell receptors.
(http://uscmmi.com/martinkastlab/)

Joseph R. Landolph, PhD
Joseph Landolph’s research focus is molecular mechanisms of chemical and environmental carcinogens. His laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms and molecular and cell biology of chemically-induced morphological and neoplastic transformation of murine and human fibroblasts.
(http://uscmmi.com/josephlandolphlab/)

Ha Youn Lee, PhD
Ha Youn Lee’s research is focused on HIV vaccine design and HIV genomic incidence assays.
(http://www.hayounlee.org/)

Jie Li, PhD
Jie Li teaches medical microbiology and host responses to human infections.

Chengyu Liang, MD, PhD
Chengyu Liang’s research is centered on understanding the basic principle of cellular processes including apoptosis and autophagy, cell cycle regulation and genomic stability, as well as intracellular trafficking matric in the development of cancer and infectious disease.
(http://chengyulianglab.com/index.html)

Brian Luna, PhD
Dr. Brian Luna studies the antibiotic tolerance mechanisms by bacterial pathogens, including antibiotic resistance and antibiotic persister cell formation. Better understanding of antibiotic tolerance mechanisms will guide improved therapeutic strategies for combating these infections. His lab uses multiple research strategies including synthetic biology, microbial genetics, next-generation sequencing, and preclinical mouse models in their work.

Keigo Machida, PhD
Keigo Machida’s research is focused on three areas: host-pathogen interactions, molecular virology and cancer biology. His laboratory’s long-term goal is to test new therapeutic modalities for HCC in HCV-infected patients with alcoholism and/or obesity.
(http://uscmmi.com/keigomachidalab/)

Minnie McMillan, DSc
Minnie McMillan’s research includes the analysis of major histocompatibility complex in immune disorders and infectious disease.

J.H. James Ou, PhD
James Ou’s research centers on molecular virology of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses.
(http://uscmmi.com/jamesoulab/)

Axel H. Schönthal, PhD
Axel H. Schönthal researches in the areas of molecular cancer biology and anticancer drug development. His laboratory is pursuing cross-disciplinary approaches to understand the mechanisms that determine tumor growth and chemoresistance.
(https://keck.usc.edu/pibbs/faculty/Axel-Schonthal/)

Stanley M. Tahara, PhD
Stanley M. Tahara’s laboratory is interested in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. His laboratory is currently examining the biological significance of protein arginine methylation of translation initiation factors.

Weiming Yuan, PhD
Weiming Yuan researches the role of innate immunity and immune effector cells in herpes virus infection. His laboratory investigates the molecular mechanism and regulation of CD1d antigen presentation and NKT cell function during anti-viral and anti-tumor immune responses.
(http://uscmmi.com/weimingyuanlab)

Ebrahim Zandi, PhD
Ebrahim Zandi’s laboratory has contributed to a fundamental understanding of molecular mechanisms of signaling in cells. Past work has elucidated molecular regulation of IkB kinases, IKK. His laboratory’s ongoing research focuses on uncovering the biological and molecular functions of a novel protein that we have identified as an IKK-interacting protein.
(http://uscmmi.com/ebrahimzandilab/)