The Keck School's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology has a faculty with diverse research interests, specializing in animal virology, microbial genetics, molecular and cellular immunology, cellular differentiation, control of protein synthesis, and chemical carcinogenesis.

The department is located on the Health Sciences campus in the Elaine Stevely Hoffman Medical Research Center, McKibben Hall, and the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, which includes a Hospital and Research Institute. It is well equipped for research in microbial physiology and genetics, electron microscopy, virology, cellular and molecular biology, genetic toxicology, and immunology.

Specialized facilities are available for advanced research in animal virology, eukaryotic cell biology and cellular differentiation, molecular and cellular immunology, microbial and molecular genetics, control of gene expression, control of protein synthesis, and chemical and viral carcinogenesis. The Keck School of Medicine maintains a core microchemical facility that is available for protein microsequencing and synthesis of peptides and oligo-nucleotides

Notable Publications

Cytosolic Viral Sensor RIG-I Is a 5'-Triphosphate-Dependent Translocase on Double-Stranded RNA. Myong S, Cui S, Cornish PV, Kirchhofer A, Gack MU, Jung JU, Hopfner KP, Ha T. Science. 2009 Jan 1. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19119185

Twist-2 controls myeloid lineage development and function.
Sharabi AB, Aldrich M, Sosic D, Olson EN, Friedman AD, Lee SH, Chen SY. PLoS Biol. 2008 Dec 16;6(12):e316.
PMID: 19090621

Roles of RIG-I N-terminal tandem CARD and splice variant in TRIM25-mediated antiviral signal transduction. Gack MU, Kirchhofer A, Shin YC, Inn KS, Liang C, Cui S, Myong S, Ha T, Hopfner KP, Jung, JU. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Oct 28;105(43):16743-8. Epub 2008 Oct 23. PMID: 18948594

New Faculty Members

Omid Akbari, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Weiming Yuan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

How influenza evades the body's defences »
A study looking at the flu virus at a molecular level could lead to new new drug therapies to enhance innate immunity.

Alcohol and hepatitis C are a dangerous cocktail, Keck researchers find »
A new study led by researchers from the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology finds a connection between alcohol consumption and liver cancer in those with hepatitis C.