Michal Caspi Tal, PhD, is an Instructor and Team Lead at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Tal currently leads the infectious disease team within the laboratory of Irving Weissman, where she studies the immumodulatory mechanisms by which the CD47-SIRPa axis impacts immune clearance of infectious disease. Dr. Tal studies host-pathogen interactions with a focus on immune clearance and diversity of immune responses to tick-borne diseases (specifically Borrelia burgdorferi). In light of the urgency of the pandemic Dr. Tal is also now researching immune responses to SARS-COV-2 with a specific focus on immune responses that could distinguish sterilizing immunity from protective immunity. Michal received her PhD at Yale University in Immunobiology under the mentorship of Dr. Akiko Iwasaki researching how immune responses to viruses are impacted by processes such as aging. Dr Tal then did her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Irving Weissman at Stanford where she is currently an instructor leading the infectious disease team and studying immumodulatory mechanisms which impact immune clearance of infectious disease. Dr. Tal received the Yale Gershon Fellowship, NIH NIAID F31 and F32 pre and postdoctoral fellowships, and the Emerging Leader Award from BALF.
