Welcome to the Andersen Laboratory
At the Andersen Lab at Scripps Research we try to understand questions such as: how do viruses emerge, spread, evolve, and go from causing small-scale outbreaks to large-scale epidemics? How can we diagnose them better and discover novel ones? How do they develop resistance to countermeasures and what molecular and immunological factors govern the underlying mechanisms? Critically, by addressing these questions, can we develop new and effective vaccines and medicines, while informing outbreak responses? The research in our laboratory is aimed at tackling these questions using an integrated approach of computation, experimentation, genomics, and large-scale data analysis. We also more broadly employ quantitative approaches across scientific disciplines, ranging from microbiology to human immunology and genetics.
The Andersen Laboratory was established at Scripps Research in the summer of 2015 in beautiful La Jolla, California. We are strong proponents of open data and open science, and we are big believers in collaborating across scientific disciplines. To this end, we are actively engaged in several of our research initiatives, including the Global Health Initiative at Scripps Research, the Center for Viral Systems Biology, the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium, the West African Emerging Infectious Disease Research Center, and the WestNile 4K Project.
Ready to learn more about the lab? Check out the people working here, our research, publications, and data.
COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 Resources
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly escalating emergency. To gain insights into the emergence, spread, transmission, and evolution of the virus, we are working with a large number of public health agencies, hospitals, biotech, and academic partners. With funding from the CDC and NIH, we are sequencing hundreds of samples a week and all the data are made publicly available without delay.
In response to the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, we have started making daily reports on the most relevant of these circulating in the U.S., including the B.1.1.7 (“UK”) variant of concern and the B.1.429 (“CA”) variant of interest. Please note, that this is still work in progress – you can access the reports here: https://outbreak.info/situation-reports/.
On December 30, together with our collaborators at UCSD, we first observed the B.1.1.7 lineage in San Diego from a sample taken on December 29 as part of the UCSD Return to Learn program.
People
Our Initiatives
Main Partners
News
To understand the spread of COVID-19 in San Diego, we looked at the age distribution of COVID-19 over time (Figure 1). Data for this analysis was provided by the Epidemiology and Immunization Services Branch of the County of San Diego Health and Human Services agency through the San Diego Open GIS Data Portal. The visualization was inspired by Gytis Dudas's…
With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists at Scripps Research and UC San Diego are sequencing the virus to help guide local outbreak response. (more…)
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the urgent need to protect the world from microbial threats, whenever and wherever they emerge. With a new $8.9 million grant, our lab is partnering with peers in the United States and West Africa, a region of the world where infectious diseases are a high burden on public health. (more…)