Diana Bautista | Research UC Berkeley

Diana Bautista, Professor of Cell Biology, Development & Physiology, mentoring in the lab.

Research Bio

Diana Bautista PhD is a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Professor Bautista & Professor Ellen Lumpkin co-run the Somatosensory, Epithelial, Neuroimmune Sciences Lab (SENse Lab @UC Berkeley): https://bautistalab.weebly.com/

The Bautista lab aims to decipher the neuroimmune interactions driving chronic itch, pain, and airway inflammation. Specifically, Bautista and her team are investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which sensory neuron, airway epithelial cell, and immune cell interactions become dysregulated following injury, atopic disease, and infection. Their work involves studying clinically relevant disease models of skin and airway inflammation, including human and mouse models of airway inflammation and respiratory stress caused by inflammatory mediators and viral infection. The team’s use of multiple models and multiple species will allow them to pursue the goal of defining a mechanistic framework for neuroimmune crosstalk in the development of inflammatory disease states.

Research Expertise and Interest

ion channels, sensory physiology, chemosensation, touch, thermosensation, somatosensory system, itch

In the News

headshots of 7 people in circles against a dark blue background

Seven Faculty Named Fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science

The 2024 class of AAAS fellows includes UC Berkeley researchers from the fields of biology, physics, psychology, engineering and statistics.

Three new investigators named by Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the nation’s largest biomedical research foundation, announced today the appointment of 33 American scientists as investigators, and three of them are from the University of California, Berkeley.

Scientists pivot to COVID-19 research, hoping for quick results to deal with pandemic

Thanks to a rapid funding program thrown together by wealthy entrepreneurs barely six weeks ago, seven COVID-19 research projects at the University of California, Berkeley, are getting an infusion of cash — $2.2 million in all — that could turn up new diagnostics and potential treatments for the infection within months.

illustration of a person scratching their wrist

Blocking nerve cells could halt symptoms of eczema

Some 10 percent of the population suffers from eczema at some point in their lives. The chronic skin condition, for which there are no cures or good treatments, causes symptoms ranging from dry, flaky and itchy skin to flaming red rashes and, particularly in children, nasal allergies and asthma.

An illustration of hands scratching an itch.

Pain and itch connected down deep

A new study of itch adds to growing evidence that the chemical signals that make us want to scratch are the same signals that make us wince in pain.

Three UC Berkeley researchers receive NIH 'innovator' awards

Three UC Berkeley faculty members - Diana Bautista, Amy Herr and Donald Rio - have been singled out as innovators by the National Institutes of Health and will receive special grants designed to fund "transformative research" that could lead to major advances in medical science.

Loading Class list ...