The Pride Laboratory · University of California, San Diego

Understanding the viruses within us, and developing them into therapies.

We study the role that viruses — particularly bacteriophages — play in the human microbiome, and work to understand how bacteriophages can be used to promote human health. The laboratory spans a basic-research lab on the UC San Diego campus and PALMS, its clinical-microbiology service.

The laboratory is divided into two halves.

A basic-research laboratory on the main UC San Diego campus, and a laboratory dedicated to clinical microbiology studies located in the clinical microbiology facility (PALMS). We were among the first to identify that many of the viruses in the human microbiome are bacteriophages, and we are dedicated to understanding how we might utilize bacteriophages to promote human health.

What we do

Human virome & microbiome research

Studying the viruses — particularly bacteriophages — of the mouth, gut, urinary tract, cerebrospinal fluid, breast milk and skin, and how they respond to antibiotics.

Research

Bacteriophage therapy

Developing bacteriophage collections against drug-resistant infections, with a patient-first, non-commercial philosophy.

Phage therapy

Clinical & diagnostic microbiology

PALMS — the Pandemic Applications Laboratory and Microbiology Service — advancing clinical testing and pandemic response at UC San Diego.

PALMS Lab
Transmission electron micrographs of Achromobacter bacteriophages from the Pride Laboratory collection, grouped by clade with genome sizes

Phage therapy

Developing bacteriophages for infections antibiotics can no longer treat.

The lab maintains bacteriophage collections against several bacterial targets, including a flagship program in Achromobacter for people with cystic fibrosis and other structural lung diseases. Profit is not part of our goals: we do not plan to charge for these phages.