Justin Jenson, PhD has joined the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, effective June 24, 2024.
Dr. Jenson completed his Bachelor of Chemistry and Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering degrees at the University of Utah in 2012 followed by a PhD in Biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018. Justin was then a postdoctoral fellow at UT Southwestern Medical Center until 2024.
His research program is focused on mechanisms of host defense. Specifically, his lab studies the molecular mechanisms that underlie anti-phage systems in bacteria and the countermeasures that phage use to antagonize them. His research focuses on anti-phage systems that contain functional homologs of human immunity pathways. The lab uses a combination of biochemistry, genetics, and structural biology to discover and elucidate bacterial defense functions and mechanisms that result from the phage-bacteria evolutionary arms race. The goal of his research is to gain insights into the evolution and function of both bacterial and human immunity as well as to contribute to a better understanding of fundamental biological processes such as infection sensing.