Dr. Caleigh Mandel-Brehm is a Postdoctoral Scholar in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research focuses on pathogenic antigens related to human paraneoplasic neurological disorders (PNDs). In her research, she will build upon her previous work of identifying antigens related to human PNDs and test the hypothesis that a single epitope causes PND patient autoimmunity and encephalitis. She will then test whether intracellular PND antigens cause autoimmune encephalitis through a particular mechanism (specifically, a non-canonical MHC-I class-dependent pathway). Finally, she will generate 3D anatomical maps of targeted inflammation in the brain, using PND antigens, and will test whether brain region-specific PND encephalitis is mediated by the CNS lymphatic system. Dr. Mandel-Brehm’s work will not only improve our understanding of the link between PNDs and autoimmune encephalitis but will also identify potential entry points for treating this immune inflammation. To conduct this work, she will utilize mouse models, immunohistochemistry, and single cell sequencing. Dr. Mandel-Brehm received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her PhD from Harvard Medical School.