Kristian Andersen, PhD
Contact
858-554-5737
[email protected]
andersen-lab.com
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Assistant Professor & Director, Infectious Disease Genomics
Assistant Professor, Immunology & Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute
Assistant Professor, Integrative Structural & Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute
Dr. Kristian G. Andersen is an Assistant Professor in both the Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at The Scripps Research Institute. He is also Director of Infectious Disease Genomics at the Scripps Translational Science Institute.
Dr. Andersen’s research has spanned many research areas and disciplines. His recent research has focused on the complex relationship between host and pathogen. Using a combination of next-generation sequencing, experimentation and computational biology he has spearheaded large international collaborations investigating the spread and evolution of highly deadly pathogens, including Zika, Ebola and Lassa viruses. This work provided insights into the emergence and transmission of Zika virus in the Americas and Ebola virus during the 2014-2015 epidemic in West Africa, and formed the foundation for the usage of genomic tools during rapidly evolving outbreaks.
Using experimental animal models and molecular biological techniques, Dr. Andersen also elucidated the evolutionary history of regulatory T cell-mediated tolerance mechanisms. He then exploited that knowledge to develop novel immune-based therapies and showed that they could be used for the treatment of arthritis, diabetes, and transplantation rejection in a number of different animal models.
Dr. Andersen conducted his post-doctoral research at Harvard University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where he is an Affiliated Member. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in 2009.