Joanna Maltbaek
Joanna Maltbaek, Graduate Student, UW Department of Immunology
Year Joined: 2016
Email: maltbaek@uw.edu
UW Box: 358059
Lab: Stetson Lab
Affinity Groups: Council Member, Midwinter Conference of Immunologists; Member, American Association of Immunologists
Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannamaltbaek/
Why I chose UW Immunology
I came from a large undergrad institution, so I wanted a more intimate graduate experience. I’m happy to have good relationships with many different PIs, and to be friends with all of the other students. I also wanted to live by the mountains.
Activities and Interests
I love the long summer days in Seattle best. I am a climber and took a mountaineering course (made possible by a scholarship) with a local mountaineering club after I moved here, so now I spend my weekends climbing Washington’s many glaciated peaks.
Advice from me
Seattle is a beautiful place to live. I will always be grateful that I chose such a friendly program, too. We students support one another and are always getting up to something fun – IM sports, happy hours, brewery tours via bike, etc.
More about me
My lab studies innate immune detection of nucleic acids. All living organisms employ sophisticated antiviral defense systems that use sensors of foreign nucleic acids. We study these sensors, how they are activated, how they are regulated, and how they organize protective immunity to virus infection. My thesis work explores how the cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) product of the DNA sensor cGAS is regulated through enzymatic degradation, and how cGAMP moves from cell to cell to propagate STING signaling.
