Postbaccalaureate Fellow
Education:
B.S., Western Michigan University
Biography
Gurleen Kaur is a postbaccalaureate fellow who joined NIH in 2024. She graduated from Western Michigan University, where she majored in biomedical sciences. As an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Benjamin Koestler's lab, Gurleen engineered transcriptional reporters to identify the Shigella flexneri protein that binds to formate, a byproduct of mixed-acid fermentation, and enhances virulence. Her interest in how pathogens interact with and manipulate the host immune response led her to the Signaling Systems Section. Her current research project focuses on employing trained immunity to improve the elimination of HIV-infected cells and to ascribe how trained myeloid cells modulate lymphocyte activity. Gurleen is also interested in mucosal and cancer immunology, particularly how microbiome-immune crosstalk at mucosal surfaces shapes systemic immune responses and influences cancer immunotherapy outcomes.