Central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory disorders ranging from multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common chronic neurological disease of young adults, to more unusual conditions like meningitis and encephalitis, constitute a poorly understood set of conditions that often lead to disabling neurological symptoms and even death.
Housed in the Sandler Neurosciences Center, the Wilson Lab is in the Division of Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology in the Department of Neurology and the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. The lab is affiliated with the Bakar ImmunoX Initiative, the UCSF Center for Tuberculosis, the Biomedical Sciences and Tetrad Graduate Programs, the Gladstone Institutes' Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology, BALANCE, the Weill Neurohub and the UCSF-Gladstone Genomic Immunology Institute. The Wilson Lab is also a founding lab in the UCSF Center for Encephalitis and Meningitis and the UCSF Center for Next-Gen Precision Diagnostics.
The lab uses genomic technologies (metagenomics, transcriptomics and immune repertoire sequencing) and comprehensive viral antibody and autoantibody assays based on phage display to better understand the underlying causes of these conditions. Using human samples (e.g., serum, cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue) collected at disease onset, we identify infectious agents, novel antibodies and characterize B and T cell responses with the aim of better understanding infectious and/or autoimmune mechanisms of disease. We are also embarking on a number of collaborations to develop cell therapies for these highly morbid diseases.