Discoveries
Meet David Underhill, PhD
David Underhill, PhD, is chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Janis and William Wetsman Family Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Underhill’s laboratory at Cedars-Sinai focuses on the microbes that live in us and on us, and understanding how inflammatory responses can be tailored to specific microbial infections. He has established a record of outstanding scientific achievement through his global leadership in inflammatory bowel disease research, resulting in major discoveries of novel mechanisms underlying the disease.
“I have this theory that when my career got to a point where I wasn’t in the lab working on things with my hands anymore, I suddenly needed hobbies I didn’t have in my life. That’s why I started making guitars and got so obsessed with it for the last 10 years. I’ve made about 15 so far. I like building something that I’m going to play with. This is my lab at home.”
