Michael R. Yeaman, PhD

Dr. Michael Yeaman is professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, chief of the Division of Molecular Medicine and vice chair of the Department of Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He is also director of the Institute for Infection and Immunity at the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation. His groundbreaking work has translated to design and development of novel agents to address antibiotic-resistant infections and autoimmune diseases. He pioneered convergent immunity to engineer the first cross-kingdom vaccines that protect against lethal health care-associated infections such as MRSA, Candida auris and extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. He founded NovaDigm Therapeutics, Inc. and Metacin, Inc. among other entrepreneurial ventures. Dr. Yeaman serves as the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation Medical Chair, which drove successful Phase III clinical trials of the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for the rare autoimmune disease, neuromyelitis optica. Dr. Yeaman has published over 225 high-impact papers and serves on the editorial boards of premier journals. He has earned continuous U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Department of Defense research support for three decades. He holds 67 issued U.S. and international patents and has received the U.S. National Institutes of Health Innovation Award, the Weitzman Memorial Research Award, Alexander Research Award and National Research Service Award. On a parallel note, Dr. Yeaman is a member of the American Society of Composers and Performers. His original works appear in films, documentaries and performances acclaimed by the Los Angeles Times. His music is available on iTunes®, Spotify® and other leading platforms, and expressed in the Pandora® Music Genome. Dr. Yeaman is a pioneer in applying music and art to medicine, focusing on palliative care and therapeutic neuroplasticity.