Message from the Chair, Dr. Anthony DeFranco:

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is one of five “wet bench research” basic science departments within the School of Medicine. It has 17 full-time primary faculty members, including 1989 Nobel Prize winner, J. Michael Bishop, who is also UCSF’s Chancellor, and Frank McCormick, director of the UCSF comprehensive cancer center. The department’s missions include: scientific research in areas related to infectious disease, immunology, and cancer; teaching microbiology and immunology to professional students in Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry; graduate education leading to the Ph.D. degree in the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) and “Tetrad” graduate programs; and advanced research training of postdoctoral fellows. Individuals interested in doing graduate work in immunology, microbiology, virology, parasitology, or cancer research at UCSF should apply to one or more of these graduate programs. Individuals interested in postdoctoral opportunities within the department should contact the faculty directly.

The research laboratories of the department are located at both of the main UCSF campuses, Parnassus Heights and Mission Bay and their activities span a wide range of modern biomedical science. Further information can be found in the links to each faculty member listed. There are also many UCSF faculty members who have a joint appointment with the department, reflecting close ties to either the research of teaching missions of the department; these individuals are also listed with links to further information.

The department serves as the administrative home for the Immunology graduate program, which is closely affiliated with the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) graduate program, and also for the Microbial Pathogenesis program, which is closely affiliated with both the BMS and Tetrad graduate programs. Both of these programs draw upon faculty from many departments at UCSF and have a rich diversity of intellectual activities, which are open to members of the UCSF community.