Justin Jenson

Justin Jenson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research focuses on elucidating conserved molecular mechanisms of innate immunity across bacterial and human systems.

He earned his PhD from MIT supported by NSF and MIT fellowships, followed by postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center where he received the Brown-Goldstein Award and CRI Irvington Fellowship. His educational trajectory reflects deep specialization in immunology and cancer research.

Dr. Jenson's primary research investigates cGAS-like proteins that detect infection through cyclic-RNA signaling, bridging bacterial antiviral defense and human inflammatory pathways. His lab employs biochemical, genetic, and structural approaches to study how these evolutionarily conserved systems regulate host defense, autoimmunity, senescence, and cancer immunity with implications for therapeutic development.

His distinguished awards include:

• Brown-Goldstein Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research (2023)
• CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019-2021)
• MIT School of Science Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research (2015-2016)
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2012-2015)

As principal investigator of the Jenson Lab, he directs research on immune system evolution with funding from major fellowships. The lab's work demonstrates how bacterial immune mechanisms inform human disease pathways, particularly in cancer immunity and aging-related inflammation.