Our People
The Spitzer Lab is a group of scientists passionate about improving lives through harnessing the immune system. We take pride in our constantly collaborative approach to science, in our inclusive lab culture, and in celebrating our diversity.

Matthew (Matt) Spitzer, PhD
Associate Professor
Matt completed his training in Immunology at Stanford University in the laboratories of Dr. Garry Nolan and Dr. Ed Engleman. There, he developed experimental and analytical methods to model the state of the immune system using high dimensional single-cell data. This led Matt to develop the first reference map of the immune system, providing a framework into which new data can be integrated and compared for system-wide analysis. At Stanford, he also developed new strategies for inducing powerful immune responses against cancer. Matt moved to UCSF in the summer of 2016 as a UCSF Parker Fellow and a Sandler Faculty Fellow and is now an Associate Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Microbiology & Immunology and an investigator of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Staff

Naa Ashitey
Junior Specialist

Brittany Davidson
Junior Specialist
Students

Cassandra (Casey) Burnett
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences

Rachel DeBarge
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences

Sophia Guldberg
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences

Maya Lopez-Ichikawa
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences

Elizabeth McCarthy
PhD Student, Biological and Medical Informatics and MSTP

Demi Sandel
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences

Jacqueline (Jackie) Yee
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences
Postdoctoral Fellows

Joël Babdor, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Nam Woo Cho, MD PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Radiation Oncology Resident

Lauren Levine, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medical Oncologist (Melanoma)

Trine Line Hauge Okholm, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Maha Rahim, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Alumni

Breanna Allen, PhD
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences, 2017-2020

Kamir Hiam-Galvez, PhD
PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences, 2017-2020

Meng-Yao (Rita) Huang, MS
Bioinformatics Programmer, 2020-2022

Diana Marquez
Junior Specialist, 2018-2020

Sid Raju
Bioinformatics Programmer, 2017-2019

Avneet Shaheed
Junior Specialist, 2020-2021

Iliana Tenvooren, MS
Lab Manager, 2016-2022
Interested in joining the Spitzer Lab?
Prospective graduate students interested in joining the Spitzer lab should apply to UCSF for admission into either the Biomedical Sciences or the Biological and Medical Informatics PhD programs.
We are always seeking postdoctoral fellows with strong backgrounds in cellular immunology, cancer biology, computational biology/bioinformatics, bioengineering, or a mix of these disciplines. If you are interested in applying to the lab, please send your current CV and a list of three references to Matt.