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Sharon Yau, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Interests

Research Interests

  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Inflammasomes and Regulated Cell Death
  • Innate Immune Sensing of Pathogens

At the Bench

Sharon Yau earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Monash University, Australia, where her doctoral research focused on proteasome regulation, cellular stress responses, and antifungal drug tolerance in Candida albicans. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at UCSD investigating innate immune responses to fungal pathogens, with a focus on inflammasome signaling, cytokine production, and regulated cell death in macrophages and neutrophils during Coccidioides infection. Her work integrates in vitro immunological assays with in vivo pulmonary infection models conducted under high-containment (BSL-3/ABSL-3) conditions. She has extensive experience in multiparameter flow cytometry, cytokine analysis, imaging, and quantitative tissue analysis. Her training spans fungal pathogenesis, immunology, and translational animal models aimed at understanding host–pathogen interactions and disease outcomes. Recently, Sharon joined the PROTECT team, where she will contribute to efforts to optimize animal models of pulmonary infection. Her training emphasizes integrating mechanistic immunology with translational in vivo approaches to understand disease outcomes.

Outside of Lab

Outside the lab, Sharon enjoys baking, visiting local farmers markets, and practicing hot yoga. She also finds relaxation in tending to her Animal Crossing island—particularly the meditative task of pulling out weeds.

Background and Education

Education

University Degree Year Field
University of California San Diego, La Jolla CA Postdoc 2026-present Pediatrics, Nizet Lab
University of California San Diego, La Jolla CA Postdoc 2022-2026 Pediatrics, Croker/Hoffman Labs
Monash University Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Melbourne Australia Ph.D. 2021 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

 

Honors and Publications

Honors

Year Honor
2019 Biochemistry PhD Student Symposium Poster Prize, Monash University, Melbourne
2014 Peter Farrell Cup, Champion, UNSW, Sydney

Publications

Yau KPS, Weerasinghe H, Olivier FAB, Lo TL, Powell DR, Koch B, Beilharz TH, Traven A. The proteasome regulator Rpn4 controls antifungal drug tolerance by coupling protein homeostasis with metabolic responses to drug stress. PLoS Pathog. 2023 Apr 19;19(4):e1011338. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011338. PMID: 37075064

Erlich JR, Rodriguez P, Yau KPS, Tate M, Carlin AF, Fierer J, Kirkland TN, Hoffman HM, Beyhan S, Croker BA. Development of a Mouse Model of Coccidioidomycosis Using an Inhalation Exposure System. J Fungi (Basel). 2025 Aug 19;11(8):599. doi: 10.3390/jof11080599. PMID: 40863551

Yau KPS, Murphy AB, Zhong L, Mai-Prochnow A. Cold plasma effect on the proteome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa - Role for bacterioferritin. PLoS One. 2018 Oct 26;13(10):e0206530. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206530. PMID: 30365553