Associate Professor Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and Pediatrics
Dr. Whiteson is a biochemist at the University of California Irvine and is interested in human associated microbial and viral communities. She uses metagenomics, metabolomics, microbial genetics and ecological statistics to answer questions about how microbes and viruses affect human health. She is interested in understanding how individual and persistent human-associated microbial and viral communities affect health. Infection with a bacterial pathogen, vaccination, immune development and even taking a Tylenol does not occur in a vacuum. Dynamic microbial and viral communities constantly inhabit our bodies, encoding the majority of the unique genes that alter these processes. Resident microbial and viral community composition is unique to each human. Visit Dr. Whiteson's faculty page for more information on her research.