Appointment of Steven J. Bensinger, VMD, PhD, as chair of the Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Steven J. Bensinger, VMD, PhD, as Chair of the Department of Immunology and Immune Therapeutics (currently the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology), effective September 1, 2025. Dr. Bensinger was selected following a comprehensive national search and emerged from an outstanding pool of candidates. He brings extensive scientific and leadership experience, along with a compelling vision to advance excellence in basic and translational immunology across the disciplines of autoimmunity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, infection, regenerative medicine, and transplantation.

 Dr. Bensinger joins us from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he serves as Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Personnel in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, and as Director of the UCLA Lipidomics Laboratory.  Since 2008, Dr. Bensinger has performed innovative research and pioneered advanced analytical methods to elucidate how lipid metabolism influences innate and adaptive immunity. Continuously funded by NIH over the past 17 years, Dr. Bensinger has earned notable professional honors, including the Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award, the UCLA Life Sciences Excellence Award for Outstanding Research, and the Sherie and Donald Morrison Endowed Chair in Immunology. Dr. Bensinger’s leadership roles have included Director of the Inflammation, Immunology, Infection, and Transplantation (I3T) Research Theme at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Director of Shared Resources at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA.

Dr. Bensinger received a VMD degree from the School of Veterinary Medicine, and a PhD in Immunology from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral work was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Laurence Turka and focused on understanding the molecular signals that regulate the development and function of CD4+ regulatory T cells. Subsequently, Dr. Bensinger completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Tontonoz at UCLA, where he investigated the influence of lipid metabolism on lymphocyte biology and adaptive immunity.

Please join me in both recognizing Jing‐Hsiung James Ou, PhD, for his distinguished service as interim chair of the department over the past five years, and welcoming Dr. Bensinger to USC.

Carolyn C. Meltzer, MD
Dean, Keck School of Medicine of USC