Renuka Nayak

Renuka Nayak, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She holds dual appointments in Medicine and Rheumatology following her clinical training. Her work bridges

• Biology
• Computer Science
• Clinical Rheumatology

to investigate the gut microbiome in autoimmune conditions.

Her research on rheumatoid arthritis integrates

• Patient specimen analysis
• Microbiology
• Next-generation sequencing
• Gnotobiotic mouse models

to understand the microbiome as a "second genome." Recent publications focus on microbiome-driven therapeutic resistance and metabolite-microbiome interactions in autoimmunity.

Key grants include

• NIH K08AR073930 (2018-2023): Gut microbiome in RA treatment
• NIH F30ES017584 (2010-2012): Gene networks under radiation stress

She collaborates with top researchers in microbiome science including Peter Turnbaugh and Katie Pollard, with datasets accessible through ORCID 0000-0002-1123-4668. Current projects include developing microbial therapeutics for inflammatory arthritis and exploring pharmacomicrobiomics applications.